Neil Hughes
In a major change to how the Apple Watch operates, users can no longer browse their iPhone's music library after updating to watchOS 4, and instead can only view songs stored on the watch itself.
Previously, users could use Force Touch or scroll up in the Music app's main menu to choose a source. There, watchOS 3 and prior presented the option to view tracks stored on or streamed from a connected iPhone, as well as those stored on the watch itself.
But with Tuesday's release of watchOS 4, there is no way to view the music library from a connected phone. Launching the new Music app in watchOS 4 presents users only with songs that have been synced directly to the watch.
Of course, this is less of a concern for users buying the new Apple Watch Series 3 with cellular on Friday, as it will have the ability to stream music directly without a connected iPhone. However, support for streaming from Apple Music and iTunes Match isn't arriving until October at the earliest, and that feature does not apply to watchOS 4 users without a Series 3 with cellular model.
Other changes to the Music app in watchOS 4 include the ability to automatically add songs that are in a listener's "heavy rotation." Users can also manually select multiple playlists to sync to the watch, though it is limited to 2 gigabytes of storage.
While watchOS 4 will no longer allow a user to browse their iPhone's music library, they can still use the Apple Watch to control it. In fact, it's now easier than ever: A "Now Playing" screen shows up by default when the user is playing music from their iPhone, giving quick access to pause, skip a track, or adjust the volume with the Digital Crown.
However, in order to take advantage of this, users must start the playback of music on their iPhone, then continue controlling it via the Apple Watch.
Amber Neely
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
53 Comments
"However, in order to take advantage of this, users must start the playback of music on their iPhone, then continue controlling it via the Apple Watch." Ugh. Damn you, Magic Watch!
this sucks. I always pick playlist from my watch while commuting so i don't have to pull out my phone which i keep in my back pack. sigh
Once again, Apple downgrades their devices after we've bought them. They did this to the AppleTV when they took away Photos library browsing. WTF is wrong with these people? The list of new Apple hardware I'm interested in buying gets shorter every year.
I'm actually welcoming this. It seems I'm constantly battling playing music off of the watch vs the phone. Yesterday my phone was just out of reach (in locker room) while I was working out. I started playing music off of the watch, then it switched to the phone middle of playback, then back to the watch, but show the music on the phone while playing a different song off of the watch. I can see how this feature change would get rid of these types of problems.