A Spotify app for the Apple Watch has been available for years but it’s only now that the company has made a standalone app. Reports say that Spotify had been testing it for a few months. Before that, the app required an iPhone to listen to music. Apple Watch Spotify will now allow you to stream songs directly from your Apple Watch Spotify is finally rolling out an update to its Apple Watch app that’ll allow you to stream songs directly from.

• Spotify is adding standalone streaming to its Apple Watch app.
• Previously, Spotify Premium subscribers had to have their iPhone with them in order to stream music from the Spotify app on their Apple Watch.
• Spotify has yet to formally announce the update, but it is now rolling out globally and should begin to appear on every Apple Watch in the days ahead.

Spotify brought its app to the Apple Watch all the way back in November 2018, but in the two years since, the only way to actually use the app has been to carry around your iPhone with you as well. It basically served as a remote for Spotify’s iPhone app, but according to TechCrunch, Spotify began rolling out support for standalone streaming on the Apple Watch app this week. Testing began last fall, and soon everyone will have access.

“With Spotify for Apple Watch you can control the Spotify experience from your wrist. You can now stream Spotify directly from your Apple Watch and even use Siri to control the playback!” Spotify states on a new support page that was recently added to its website to reflect the new feature. “In addition to streaming Spotify directly from your wrist, you can also control playback of Spotify, with the Spotify Connect feature built-in you can select which device you want to play Spotify on and select anything to play from your recently played tracks.”

Spotify also notes on this support page that in order to stream music directly from your wrist, you’ll need to have a Spotify Premium subscription, an Apple Watch Series 3 or later with watchOS 6.0+ (though watchOS 7.1+ is recommended), a cellular or WiFi connection, and the latest version of the Spotify app on your iPhone.

When I told one of my coworkers the news about standalone streaming coming to Apple Watch, he was ecstatic. He is just one of many Apple Watch users who wear the device when they exercise, but were previously forced to drag their iPhone along as well if they wanted to listen to music on Spotify. He and all other Spotify subscribers will soon be able to leave the iPhone behind and stream music over a cellular or WiFi connection.

“We’re focused on developing experiences that enable users to listen to Spotify wherever and whenever they want – regardless of the device or platform,” a Spotify spokesperson told TechCrunch when asked about the update, which has yet to be formally announced by the company as of Wednesday evening. “After an initial testing period, we are now rolling out streaming capabilities for Spotify on the Apple Watch.”

The spokesperson also added that this is a global rollout, so in the coming days, everyone with an Apple Watch and a Spotify Premium account should finally be able to start streaming music iPhone-free.

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Updated Sep. 24, 2020

Does Apple Watch 6 support streaming Spotify music directly without an ‌iPhone‌ connection? Sorry, the answer is still no. But Spotify is now testing direct Apple Watch streaming for select users. However, there is still no news on storing a playlist locally for offline listening. - read more

Spotify officially released its Apple Watch app on Nov 13, 2018. With this new app, users can enjoy an improved experience with better control and the ability to seamlessly connect to your speakers or devices.

Spotify’s first Apple Watch version includes the ability to access and control your favorite Spotify music and podcasts from wrist, and control how music is played to compatible Spotify Connect devices. But one important feature is missing: you can't store Spotify music locally on your wrist for offline listening.

The lack of offline playback may disappoint you. It means you still can't go for a run with just Bluetooth headphones and leave iPhone at home. Spotify is promising that offline playback support is coming in the future, however, it's not achieved. Unfortunately, it's a similar story for Apple Watch LTE owners with a data contract who were hoping to stream Spotify music directly from their wrist for listening on a pair of connected Bluetooth headphones. Currently the ability to do this doesn't exist in the Spotify app and there's a good chance it never will, since Apple's API for watchOS 5 doesn't permit third-party apps to use direct cellular or Wi-Fi streaming.

Play Spotify on Apple Watch Offline without iPhone

If you want to play Spotify music on Apple Watch offline without iPhone, here is a solution.

You can sync music, podcasts, or audiobooks from your iPhone to your Apple Watch. Then you can play the content on your watch without your iPhone nearby, even if your watch is not connected to Wi-Fi or cellular.

How to sync Spotify music to Apple Watch? First, you need to download them to DRM-free mp3 format. Yes, Spotify songs you downloaded with premium account are DRM-protected and can't be synced to Apple Watch. To download Spotify music to mp3 with either free or premium account, all you need is Ondesoft Spotify Music Converter, which is available on Mac and Windows. It's an excellent Spotify music downloader and converter, which is able to strip DRM from Spotify music and convert Spotify to MP3, M4A, FLAC or WAV with 100% original quality.

Follow the detailed tutorial as below to learn how to download Spotify music to mp3 and sync to Apple Watch.

Part 1 Download Spotify music to MP3

Step 1: Add Spotify music you want to download

Download, install and run Ondesoft Spotify Converter. Please make sure you have installed Spotify app on your computer.

Option 1 Drag&drop songs, albums or playlists you want to download from Spotify app to the Ondesoft Spotify Converter interface.

Option 2: Click the Add Files button, copy and paste the Spotify song/album/playlist link to the bottom area, then click the Add button.

(Right click the song/album/playlist name and then choose Share - Copy Song/Album/Playlist Link)

Step 2 : Choose output formats

The default output format is mp3. You can also click the Options button to choose other output format(MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG or AIFF), bitrate and samplerate.

Step 3: Start downloading and converting Spotify music

When finish the above settings, click the Convert button to start the conversion.

After the conversion, click below folder icon to locate the DRM-free Spotify songs.

Part 2 Add converted Spotify music to iTunes library

Add the converted Spotify songs to your iTunes library and then create a playlist for them. Turn on iCloud Music Library and your entire iTunes library will also appear on your iPhone.

Part 3 Sync Spotify music to your Apple Watch

Add the converted Spotify songs to your Apple Watch by syncing them. After you sync, you can play the Spotify music on your Apple Watch without your iPhone.

1. Set your Apple Watch on its charger and make sure that the device is charging.
2. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Bluetooth. Make sure that Bluetooth is turned on.
3. On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app, then tap the My Watch tab.
4. Tap Music > Add Add Music.
5. Choose the music that you want to sync.

Part 4 Offline play Spotify music on Apple Watch

Spotify App Crashing Apple Watch

Once the converted Spotify playlist has synced to your Apple Watch and your headphones are paired with your watch, you can listen to the playlist on your Apple Watch without your iPhone.

1. On your Apple Watch, open the Music app.
2. Tap the Apple Watch icon to set it as the music source.
3. Tap Playlists.
4. At the top you’ll see, On My Apple Watch. Select the playlist, press play and your music will begin!

Check other free music apps for Apple Watch.

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