# How to Play Music on Apple Watch **URL:** https://www.compsmag.com/blogs/how-to-play-music-on-apple-watch/ **Author:** Ayushi Chauhan **Published:** 2023-02-08 **Updated:** 2023-02-08 **Categories:** Blogs **Tags:** Android Guides, Apple Guides, Blogs Daily, Google tips and tutorials, guiderobert, Guides and Tutorials, guiding12, How To Guide, How To Guides, iphones guides, Originals How to, Software tips and tutorials, Tips, Tricks **Reading Time:** 6 min --- One of the best things about the [Apple Watch](https://compsmag.com/best/apple-watch/) is that you can listen to music without carrying your [iPhone](https://compsmag.com/best/iphones/). You can still listen to your favorite artists through your watch, even if you’re going for a run, need to be hands-free, or your [smartphone](https://compsmag.com/best/smartphone/) just died and you need to rock out right now. All you have to do is stream the songs from your nearby phone or download them right to your Apple Watch. You can also listen to your favorite podcasts by having them come out at the same time every week as your watch. Apple even deletes the episode for you after you’ve listened to it, to free up some of that valuable storage space. If you don’t have your iPhone with you, you can still listen to music on your Apple Watch. But your watch’s model and [mobile operating system](https://compsmag.com/best/mobile-operating-systems/) determine how you can listen to your favorite songs. You can listen to albums and playlists made on your iPhone with any Apple Watch running watchOS 4.1 or higher. You can also listen to Apple Music and [music-streaming services](https://compsmag.com/best/music-streaming-services/) like Pandora, Spotify, and iHeartRadio. If you have an Apple Watch Series 3 or later, you can do all of the above and also link to Apple Radio and any music you’ve synced through iCloud. You can also get music from the cloud directly. Let’s look at the different ways your Apple Watch lets you listen to music. We mentioned below are the ways to Play Music on Apple Watch. ## Ways to Play Music on Apple Watch ### Add Music to an Apple Watch If you like to listen to music while you’re on the go, like when you’re driving to work or running around your neighborhood, you’ll need to set up your Apple Watch to play music. 1. Create a playlist on your iPhone and prepare it by **selecting your favorite music** to sync to your Apple Watch. 2. Connect your **Apple Watch** to the charger and make sure **Bluetooth** is enabled on your iPhone. 3. Launch the **Watch app** on your iPhone. Select “**My Watch” > “Music**“. 4. Under “**Playlists and Albums**,” select “**Add Music**” and select the playlist or album you wish to sync to the Watch. 5. Hold the iPhone close to the **Apple Watch** set on the charger to begin syncing. 6. Once syncing is complete, open the “**Music**” [app](https://compsmag.com/best/apps/) on your Apple Watch. 7. Navigate to the **playlist** you created or browse to other options. Once **selected**, you can start listening to music. ### Use an Apple Watch to Control What’s Playing on an iPhone You can also use your Apple Watch to change how your iPhone plays music. In this case, your phone, not your [smartwatch](https://compsmag.com/best/smartwatch/), plays the music, so you need [headphones](https://compsmag.com/best/headphone/) that are plugged into or paired with your phone. But you can control the music right from the watch, so you don’t have to pull out your phone. Just do these things. 1. Launch the “**Music**” application from the **Apple Watch** home screen. 2. Scroll up and select **iPhone** as the music source, then select “**Now Playing**” to see the music currently playing on your iPhone. 3. At this point, you have a variety of options for **controlling playback**. Which method you choose will depend on your preferred music service. 4. If you use Apple Music, selecting “**Quick Play**” will show you random songs from this service’s recommendations; you can also listen to Apple Music 1 radio stations; or you can select “**My Music**” to listen to the music from the Apple Music 1 radio station. 5. You can also choose “**My Music**” to see your music library and choose the songs you want to listen to by**artist, song, or album.** ## About Apple Watch Apple, which also makes the iPhone, makes the Apple Watch, which is a smartwatch. All over the world, Apple Watches are very popular. They only work with iPhones, so [Android](https://compsmag.com/best/android-phone/) users are out of luck. They also work well with Apple’s ecosystem. Whether you’re using iMessage to talk to a friend or Apple Maps to get around, the Apple Watch is the best smartwatch for your iPhone. Apple makes both the hardware and [software](https://compsmag.com/best/free-software/) for the Apple Watch, which is different from some other major smartwatch platforms. This means that the company doesn’t have to wait for a third-party company to approve major hardware updates or regular software updates. This is different from Google’s Wear OS platform. Google is in charge of the Wear OS software, but it has only just started making Wear OS hardware with the [Google Pixel Watch](https://compsmag.com/reviews/google-pixel-watch-review/). So, the Apple Watch tends to provide a smoother, more unified experience. ## What experts think of the Apple Watch The Apple Watch Ultra is the model with the most features. It has outdoor-specific features, a big battery, and a big, flat screen. Not everyone will need to buy this model, though. The new middle ground is the Apple Watch Series 8, which gives most people a good mix of smartwatch and health tracking features. Apple recently changed the base model of its Watch SE. It costs a lot less than the Series 8 and [apple watch Ultra](https://compsmag.com/reviews/apple-watch-ultra-review/), but it still has a lot of high-tech features. The battery life isn’t great, and it doesn’t have any big-ticket health features, but everything else about the device is a win. It has a bright screen and feels just as high-end as options that cost more. ## Final Words That’s it with our article on how to Play Music on Apple Watch. Whether you subscribe to Apple Music or Spotify, the Apple Watch can play music directly to a pair of [Bluetooth headphones](https://compsmag.com/best/bluetooth-headphones/) from your wrist. But since the Apple Watch can play music when it’s connected or when it’s not, there are quite a few steps to get music to play. Those who have a lot of iTunes songs can easily sync their playlists, but a streaming service is better because you can get to your playlists in just a couple of minutes. --- *End of Article*