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How to play music on your smartwatch using Android Wear

androidpit android wear offline music
© nextpit

Leave the smartphone at home, because Android Wear watches have everything you need to play music on your wrist — if you're going out for a jog or just traveling light then you can use your smartwatch as a portable jukebox and take a select number of tunes with you. Here's how to play music on your smartwatch using Android Wear.

For now this only works with the Google Play Music app. Before you get started, make sure you're running the latest version of the app on your phone, and the latest version of Android Wear on your smartwatch (head to Settings, then About, then System updates to check).

Syncing your music

Head into the app menu for Google Play Music, choose Settings, then tick the box next to Download to Android Wear. Any tracks you sync to your Android device will then also sync to a connected smartwatch (at the moment there's no option to only cache tunes individually to one or the other).

androidpit google play music download
Download the playlists you want on your phone. / © NextPit

At the top of every playlist, artist page or album listing, you'll see a download icon — tap on this to download the selected music to your device (and from there to your Android Wear watch) ready for offline listening. To remove tracks from your device simply tap on the download icon again.

Playing your tunes

Switch to your Android Wear device and you shut see the download/transfer status appear as one of the notifications on the smartwatch. When the transfer is complete, you can access Play Music as one of the apps under the Start... heading in the device menu (or just say "OK Google... play music").

androidpit android wear music
Playing music on a smartwatch. / © NextPit

The next screen lets you choose to play music locally rather than on your main device — if you don't already have a pair of Bluetooth headphones (or a speaker) hooked up then you'll be prompted to add one. You can then swipe right to access playback and volume controls on the watch face.

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David Nield

David Nield
Writer

David is a freelance technology journalist who has been writing about Android apps and gadgets since the earliest days of the platform. He spends most of his time experimenting with phones, tablets and most other types of tech, particularly if it's Google-related.

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3 comments
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  • 1
    martial himanshu Jun 30, 2015 Link to comment

    I like your article, i am sure this information is very useful for every smartwatch lovers. i am also a blogger try my some post from www .eazytricks .com .


  • Divers Watch Face for Wear 2
    Divers Watch Face for Wear Jun 30, 2015 Link to comment

    Who would have thought that you can play music with your Android wear? A lot of us just expect it to be a companion for our daily activities and never imagine could offer entertainment.


  • 6
    Mando Jun 29, 2015 Link to comment

    Really? Is it 1990?? You have to sidelong music to the Android wear line of watches? I'm sorry. I've had a few people dog me because of my Gear S, but they are talking about it, and comparing it to an actual "Smartphone" which is not the idea behind a wearable. The wearable should be and extension of your smartphone, not a replacement, which is where the #Samsung #GearS owns Android wear. There is nothing in the market, including the "almighty" apple watch that can compare to what my Gear S can do, plus it's an actual connected device not just
    "Another Bluetooth" battery drainer. I'd love to see you guys do a review on the Gear S. It's really an amazing device! Android wear, please get with the program. #SMH Lol. These are solely my personal opinions and don't represent the views of anyone beyond me.

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