How to add music and other audio to your Apple Watch and listen to it from the watch

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apple watchfancycrave1/Pixabay

  • Your Apple Watch has the ability to store music and podcasts so you can listen to your favorite tunes without having to use your iPhone.
  • You can also play any song or podcast that’s stored on your iPhone, when you have the device nearby.
  • Storage on the Apple Watch itself is limited to 2 GB for music, so you’ll have to be selective with your songs.
  • The Apple Watch doesn’t have a headphone jack port so you’ll need a set of wireless headphones.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

One of the great features of the Apple Watch is the ability to listen to music on the go, without having to carry your iPhone.

Whether you’re going out for a run, need to be hands-free, or your phone just died and you’re in desperate need to rock out, you can still access your favorite artists through your watch. All you have to do is stream the songs from your nearby phone or download them directly onto your Apple Watch.

But be warned: Storage space is limited to 2 GB for music on an Apple Watch, so you may need to remove songs or playlists before adding more.

You can also tune in to your favorite podcasts by automatically syncing their release with your watch. To free up some of that desirable storage space, Apple even automatically removes the episode once you’ve listened to it.

Ready to reach your playlists and podcasts from your wrist? Follow the simple steps below. But before you start setting up your music and more, invest in a pair of wireless headphones. The Apple Watch doesn’t have a headphone jack to accommodate your usual set.

How to download music to your Apple Watch

There are two ways to listen to music on your Apple Watch. You can either stream them directly from your nearby iPhone, or you can download a set amount of songs onto your watch and listen without having your iPhone on you.

1. Place your Apple Watch on its charger and connect the charger to power.

2. On your iPhone, open the Watch app. If you can’t find it, you can swipe right on the home screen and search for it.

3. On the "My Watch" screen scroll down and select "Music."

how to play music on apple watchChristine Kopaczewski/Business Insider

4. Here, you can select what music to download to your Apple Watch. There are two options:

  • You can choose specific playlists and albums to add to your watch.
  • You can also choose the "Heavy Rotation" feature and Apple will automatically add and remove music based on what you’re listening to on your iPhone.

5. If you want to have Apple choose the music, make sure that the "Heavy Rotation" feature is turned on — the switch will be green. If you want to manually choose music click the "+ Add Music" under "Playlists & Albums" and make your selections.

how to play music on apple watchChristine Kopaczewski/Business Insider

6. Your music will sync to your Apple Watch when it is connected to power and close to your iPhone.

How to listen to music on your Apple Watch

1. On your Apple Watch, open the Music app.

apple watch musicChristine Kopazcewski/Business insider

2. You will now be able to scroll through music stored on your Apple Watch and choose a song. If you scroll all the way to the top you will be given the option to shuffle all songs on the Apple Watch. If you’ve got your iPhone nearby, you’ll also be able to choose "On iPhone" to browse and play music that is on that device.

apple watch musicChristine Kopaczewski/Business Insider

3. Once you’ve selected your music, the Apple Watch will ask you to connect a pair of Bluetooth headphones in order to listen to the audio. Click on "Connect a Device" and select your headphones.

apple watch musicChristine Kopazcewski/Business Insider

4. You will now be able to play your music. You can use the crown (the dial on the side of your watch) to turn the volume up or down, and pause, skip forward, or skip back using the on-screen buttons.

apple watch musicChristine Kopaczewksi/Business Insider

Don’t like the song that’s playing? If you tap the three dots in the bottom right corner of the watch face you can choose to delete the song from your Apple Watch.

How to download podcasts to your Apple Watch

Just like the music setup, there are two ways to listen to podcasts on your Apple Watch. You can have your iPhone nearby and listen to any episodes saved on your phone, or you can download a set number of episodes directly onto your watch.

1. Place your Apple Watch on its charger and connect the charger to power.

2. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.

3. On the "My Watch" screen, scroll down and click on "Podcasts."

apple watch musicChristine Kopaczewski/Business Insider

4. On this screen, you’ll find two options for choosing what podcasts to save to your Apple Watch:

  • You can choose to have all of your new episodes in your "Listen Now" section automatically downloaded onto your Apple Watch.
  • You can also manually select which shows to sync and Apple will attempt to add three episodes from each show onto your Apple Watch (this will depend on your available storage).

Apple watch musicChristine Kopaczewski/Business Insider

5. Your podcasts will automatically sync when your Apple Watch is connected to power and near to your iPhone. Once you’ve listened to a podcast, it will be removed from your watch to save storage space.

How to listen to podcasts on your Apple Watch

1. On your Apple Watch, open the Podcasts app.

apple watch musicChristine Kopaczewski/Business Insider

2. You will now see all the episodes saved on your Apple Watch. You can select one to play or, if your iPhone is nearby, you can scroll all the way to the top and choose "On iPhone" to stream an episode from your phone.

apple watch musicChristine Kopaczewski/Business Insider

3. Connect your Bluetooth headphones and you’re ready to go.

4. You can use the crown to turn the volume up or down, and pause, skip forward 30 seconds, or skip back 15 seconds using the on-screen buttons. There’s also an option to play the podcast at half speed, 1.5x speed and 2x speed, as well as the traditional 1x speed.

apple watch musicChristine Kopaczewski/Business Insider

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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Christine Kopaczewski)

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