Download Spotify Music to an Apple Watch

Published on 01.06.2024 by TF

An Apple watch is one of the most powerful gadgets available. With its high processing power, high storage capacity, and ability to store music for offline playing, it is worth acquiring the gadget. If you want to use an Apple watch to listen to music, you might be happy to know that you are not limited to downloading from Apple Music. You can also download music from Spotify. If you are wondering how to do that, this article will guide you through the process.

Why Download Spotify Music to Apple Watch

Nowadays, you don't have to carry your phone when going to a workout. Instead, a smartwatch captures all your essential data, such as speed, calories shed, and even heartbeat. To improve your workout experience, you can play your favorite music when running or exercising.

The Apple Watch and the Spotify app have become essential combinations for music enthusiasts. The unique features of the Apple app combined with the large music library on Spotify can be a great experience. Since May 2021, Spotify has allowed users to download music and podcasts to the Apple Watch.

If you have a Spotify playlist, you can enhance your experience by downloading it to your Apple Watch. Spotify allows you to download individual songs, playlists, and more. That way, they can listen to their favorite music even when they aren't near their phones. While certain requirements exist, most people with Spotify Premium can use the feature.

Requirements for Streaming Music on Spotify

Before you can download Spotify music to Apple Watch, you need to:

  • Have a Spotify Premium Subscription.
  • Have an Apple Watch Series 3 or a later model, such as the Apple Watch Series 9.
  • You should be running with at least a WatchOS 6. A more recent version, like WatchOS 10, would be better.
  • The latest version of Spotify.
  • The device should be connected to data or Wi-Fi. After the song or playlist has started, a green arrow will appear next to the name used to save it.

How to Download Spotify Music to Apple Watch:

  • On your Apple Watch, Launch Spotify.
  • Go to the playlist you want to download on Spotify.
  • Click on the three-dot menu button.
  • Choose Download to Apple Watch.
  • You will receive a pop-up message telling you that the download has started and you will see the progress on your Apple watch.

Remember that you cannot download an Individual song. Instead, you must put the songs in a playlist before downloading them. You can also download a maximum of 50 songs to an Apple watch. Again, Spotify will only allow you to download a maximum of 10 hours of songs to your watch. If the storage in your watch is bigger, you can download more songs.

How to download a Spotify Playlist on iPhone:

  • Go to Spotify on your iPhone.
  • Go to the playlist or Album you want to download on your Apple watch.
  • Tap More (three dots), followed by Download to Apple Watch.
  • You will see the progress of your downloads in your watch’s download section
  • After the downloads are fully completed, a small green arrow will appear next to their names.

After following the above steps, your downloads are ready. You can now connect your headphones and start listening to your playlist offline.

How to Troubleshoot Spotify downloads Not Playing on Apple Watch

Probably, you have followed the above steps in downloading Spotify songs to your Apple watch, but still, the downloads don’t play. If you are having such an issue, it is most probably caused by a network error or glitches in the software. Some of the issues you can experience include:

  • Inability to forward, skip, play songs, or stop playing.
  • Spotify is not playing at all.
  • Spotify music is not streaming on headphones.

No matter the issue you are facing, there are some troubleshooting tips to help you resolve the problem. These include:

  • Connect Apple Watch to Wi-Fi. Before downloading, you must ensure your phone and Apple Watch are connected to the same network. Your Apple Watch will not work unless it's on the same network as your phone.
  • Confirm Bluetooth is working. Bluetooth should also work properly on your Apple watch, phone, and headphones. This is necessary since your watch won't be playing with its speaker. Tap the gold crown to ensure that Bluetooth works, and go to Settings, followed by Bluetooth.
  • Update app. Updating the Spotify app can help fix bugs and ensure your app is working well.
  • Restart Spotify on the Apple Watch. This can help solve some of the glitches that may be causing Spotify not to play. If the app is frozen and not working, you can long-press the side button until you see the shutdown button. You should then hold the digital crown until the app closes.
  • Delete the Spotify app. If restarting the app doesn't work, you can try removing it and reinstalling it again. A reinstallation will ensure you work with the latest and smoothly working app.
  • Change the phone network setting. You can also refresh your phone's internet settings to see if that fixes the issue.

Apple Music vs. Spotify for Apple: Which Is Better?

Two of the biggest names in music streaming are Apple and Spotify. With the two options charging almost a similar amount, it can be hard to choose one that best suits your needs. In this section, we will look at which option is best for you.

If you are looking for great audio support, consider Apple Music. On the other hand, if you love music, podcasts, and audiobooks, you should go with Spotify. Your listening habits will also affect your choice.

Why Spotify for Streaming?

Spotify is a great option with many content and endless playlist creation options. It also offers the option to stream to a wide range of devices. The platform offers 15 hours of audiobooks and has a great podcast variety. If you want to stream content free of charge, Spotify has a free product to enable you to do that. Spotify is also enhancing the UI experience with an in-app purchase option.

Why Apple Music?

One of Apple Music's benefits is that it allows you to add your music to the library. If you are a Siri user, you will have better voice control for your playbacks. Like Spotify, Apple Music will recommend music depending on your listening habits. You can enjoy lossless audio and Dolby Atmos spatial audio support for some select songs.

Apple Music vs. Spotify: Comparison of Features

Here is a comparison of the features of the two:

Streaming Quality

Spotify allows users to choose the streaming quality they want. They can increase their bit rate in sets of 320 kbps. This can be very helpful, especially when you are streaming on mobile data and are concerned about the quality. When streaming on the Spotify web player, the default stream quality is 128 kbps for the free package and 256 kbps for the paid version.

Apple Music currently streams its music losslessly in lossless quality, with spatial audio on a few select songs. You can go to Settings>Music>Audio Quality on your iPhone for spatial streaming. When it comes to streaming quality, Apple Music is the clear winner.

Cost

Both Spotify and Apple Music cost the same. Apple Music offers a three-month trial period for its premium packages, while Spotify has a one-month free trial. Each service costs $6 for students and $17 for Individual plans. Both allow you to stream any song on demand from their library.

However, Apple Music does have free ad-supported streaming services like Spotify. On the other hand, Apple users can only stream Beats 1 Radio or listen to songs from their iTunes library. 

Spotify has a premium duo subscription for two users living at the same address for $13. Students also get free access to Hulu and ad-supported showtime as part of their premium subscription. Therefore, Spotify has a benefit over Apple Music because you can begin streaming free of charge but with ads.

Audiobooks and Podcasts Library

According to their data, Spotify and Apple Music claim to have libraries of over 100 million albums. With both options, users are sometimes given early access to certain albums. Those on Apple Music, at times, get early access to certain music videos.

Users can access their Apple Music library on various devices using the iCloud Music Library. The feature helps to match the songs in your library with the iTunes catalog. Therefore, you can listen to your playlist no matter where you sign from. Even better, you can have a library of 100k songs. If you don’t have an Apple Music subscription, you can still access the iTunes match for $25 per annum, but you only need it if you don't have a 4K Apple TV.

Spotify also allows users to play the music stored on their devices within the Spotify app. However, this will only work for personal files. Therefore, your files will not be saved in the cloud. You should remember that Spotify is the only service that offers over 15 audiobook hours. In this case, Spotify is the winner.

Music Discovery Tools

People commonly use streaming services because they help them easily discover music. Spotify and Apple Music also recommend music based on what you have previously listened to. Spotify recommends new songs in its playlist recommendations, such as the Release Radar and Discover Weekly. These playlists are great tools for artists to promote their music on Spotify. Apple, too, has its recommendations through the New Music Mix. 

When signing up on both platforms, you are required to enter your favorite artists and music genres. This will act as the baseline for your recommendations. However, as you continue using the app, they will also make recommendations based on your browsing history.

Both apps have radio stations based on your favorite genres, artists, and playlists. The Apple Music radio station is known as Beats 1 Radio and is hosted and curated by real DJs. Users can listen to the radio like they do with real-life radios. However, Spotify seems to have a better music recommendation. Spotify is also experimenting with an AI-driven music curation tool.

Ease of Use

Apple Music on mobile features a sleek white look, while Spotify features a black look. Both streaming platforms are quite easy to use. At the bottom of the main tab, you will find your music library, radio, and search. You can search for song lyrics on Spotify and Apple Music to see if they are available. If necessary, you can even include a Karaoke mode for the song.

You can control both Spotify and Apple Music using Google Maps. To do that, simply go to the navigation interface of your Android or iOS device. If you are a Spotify user, you can also enjoy a similar feature on Waze. Apple Music allows you to listen to music using an information system as it supports CarPlay and AndroidAuto. Both Spotify and Apple Music are also getting TikTok support. When it comes to the ease of use, both apps draw.

Listening Locations

Which of these two apps enables you to listen in more locations? First, both of these apps are available on Android and iOS devices. They also have desktop apps for iOS and Windows so that you can listen on gadgets other than mobile. If you need to, you can listen to music on your browser on both platforms by going to open.spotify.com and music.apple.com, respectively.

On both apps, you can stream audio to a Bluetooth wireless speaker. Using an IOS device, you can stream to an Airplay Speaker and a Chromecast speaker on an Android device. Apple Music allows Siri voice controls on Apple's HomePod in smart speakers. When using the Alexa app, Apple Music is now compatible with a full line of echo speakers.

Spotify is also available with Alexa speakers and Google Smart speakers. Any device that is certified as Spotify Connect Compatible can be used with the Spotify app as a remote or playback control.

Conclusion

You can listen to music wherever you go by downloading Spotify Music to an Apple Watch. If you are wondering how to download music to an Apple Watch, our guide will help you. Check out our troubleshooting tips if the music fails to download or play. Finally, if you are unsure if you should stream using Spotify or Apple Music to Apple Watch, we have included a comparison of the two to help you choose. Check out our guide on how to create a Playlist on Spotify.