How to use Spotify offline on your Wear OS smartwatch!

When I'm indulging in my daily laps around town to obtain the required number of steps, the Spotify app on my smartphone is my constant companion. If you're more athletically ambitious than I am, you'll be happy to forgo the smartphone and be happy to use your smartwatch as much as possible.

For the athletically-inclined among you, there is some good news from Spotify: The Swedish company has announced that in the future, it will be possible to enjoy offline music on smartwatches powered by Wear OS.

This is how Spotify songs and podcasts are stored offline on Wear OS smartwatches

It is beginning to feel a bit like last week's unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 which has given Wear OS a bit of a resuscitation. Hence, it's surely not a coincidence that Spotify has announced the coming offline availability. Owners of smartwatches will still have to remain patient for a while, as Spotify wants to distribute the update over the next few weeks.

At least the music streaming market leader has already revealed just this will work as you enjoy Spotify offline on your smartwatch in the future. Without much further ado, here's what we know:

1. Once the update arrives, find the music and podcasts that you want to download on your supported watch.
2. Tap "Download to watch".
3. You can check the progress on the smartwatch in the "Downloads" section.
4. Once the selected playlists, albums, or podcasts in your library are downloaded, you’ll see a little green arrow next to their names.
5. Connect your headphones and start listening, no matter where you are!

Advantages for Premium customers

Bear in mind that unlimited music enjoyment is reserved for those who also have a premium plan. Free users can only listen to music and podcasts that they have saved in shuffle mode. However, this will work only if the smartwatch has a Wi-Fi or cellular connection. Spotify Premium users, on the other hand, can download albums, playlists and podcasts and listen to them offline.

Clearly, this is Spotify's way of trying to convince those with free plans to opt for the paid option. Since the added value for music and podcast fans with the appropriate smartwatch is obvious, this strategy might even work. Speaking of "appropriate smartwatch": Of course, the feature is arriving on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, but Spotify has also announced the update for other brands like Fossil, Mobvoi, and Suunto that run on Wear OS 2.0 at the minimum.

I hope that you'll tell us in the comments whether you're excited about this upcoming feature, or rather wonder why Spotify is just introducing this idea now.