Spotify launches native wearOS app with No Offline support

[AlTech]

Spotify has launched their new native wearOS App. 

 

For those who don't know, wearOS by Google is Google's attempt at rebranding  their previous wearable OS called AndroidWear.

 

The new Spotify wearOS app is almost fully featured however one of the noticeable omissions is the lack of Offline support which Tizen watches and Garmin Watches currently support.

 

Quote

The Wear OS app also integrates with Spotify Connect, the company's method of connecting and controlling playback on Bluetooth devices. Now from your wrist, you can manage connections between Bluetooth speakers, laptops, and other devices and quickly change the playback source.

The Spotify Wear OS app uses any available connectivity, including Wi-Fi, LTE, and Bluetooth, to play music. Unlike Tizen's Spotify app, the Wear OS app doesn't support downloading music for offline playback. That will inevitably disappoint those with Wear OS smartwatches with enough onboard storage to hold a couple of playlists.

When asked about offline support, Spotify offered Ars this statement: "We’re excited to introduce a standalone Spotify app for Wear OS by Google smartwatches. This is the first version of the app, and we will continue to improve the Spotify experience." While that's vague, it hints at the possibility of offline support being added in the future.

 

Definitely a bummer but I can understand why they wouldn't support it considering many Smart watches usually only have 4GB or 8GB of Internal Storage. Some models have 16GB (or even 32GB in some cases) but those are exceedingly rare.

 

I definitely think that adding Offline support would be quite helpful but first well need to see OEMs adding more storage to their Smart Watches before that can become a reality.

 

Source: 

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/10/spotify-comes-to-wear-os-with-standalone-app-spotify-connect-support/

[SansVarnic]

Offline is a must to have. To many places still have dead spots where being online all the time is not possible. Such as mountainous/hilly terrain or shielded buildings. This hypothetical always online dream is just a dream.

5g will help but it wont be perfect either.

This is one reason i still use pandora over other music services is they have offline support. There is no need for music on the watch any how since my music plays through my phone to my earbuds vis bluetooth any how. Music app on the smart watch right now is unnecessary. 

[DrMacintosh]

Interesting that they would make an app for WearOS first rather than watchOS. Doesn't seem like a smart move to me, but what do I know? 

 

[AlTech]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

Interesting that they would make an app for WearOS first rather than watchOS. Doesn't seem like a smart move to me, but what do I know? 

 

I'm more surprised that they started with Tizen and then made one for Garmin and now for wearOS.

 

The lack of a watchOS app could be due to Apple not wanting a competitor's app on their devices similar to how their $350 Speaker doesn't support using Bluetooth to playback songs from Spotify.

[mynameisjuan]

3 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Interesting that they would make an app for WearOS first rather than watchOS. Doesn't seem like a smart move to me, but what do I know? 

 

Because Spotify is used more on Apple devices. Hell have the people I know with Apple watches dont even charge the damn thing, use it just for looks.

 

But its about fucking time Devs dont focus on just profit. It just create more fragmentation. 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

7 minutes ago, SansVarnic said:

Offline is a must to have. To many places still have dead spots where being online all the time is not possible. Such as mountainous/hilly terrain or shielded buildings. This hypothetical always online dream is just a dream.

5g will help but it wont be perfect either.

This is one reason i still use pandora over other music services is they have offline support. There is no need for music on the watch any how since my music plays through my phone to my earbuds vis bluetooth any how. Music app on the smart watch right now is unnecessary. 

Then you have scrubs like me that don't have data plans. Yes, I'm still stuck in 2005.

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, AluminiumTech said:

The lack of a watchOS app could be due to Apple not wanting a competitor's app on their devices similar to how their $350 Speaker doesn't support using Bluetooth to playback songs from Spotify.

If that was a reason we probably would have heard about it. Also HomePod uses AirPlay, so Spotify works if you set the output to airplay. You just lose the nice Siri control features. 

[Origami Cactus]

I know that Google Play Music app allowed me to transfer music over to the watch for offline use, and then i could pair bluetooth headphones to the watch and listen to the music that way.

I haven't tried it on my huawei watch, so i dont know if it supports the watches speaker or not.

[Commodus]

And people wonder why the Apple Watch is the most popular smartwatch... and that's not saying WearOS isn't good, it's just that it's being hamstrung by a number of parties, Spotify included.  I want the device and software options to be better.

 

Samsung watch owners have offline Spotify support.  Apple Watch owners don't have an official app yet (Spotify is working on it), but they have outstanding offline music support if you're using Apple Music.  It can easily store albums and playlists offline, and it'll automatically sync the dynamically generated playlists while you're charging.  Oh, and you're not stuck with less than 8GB of storage -- Series 4 has at least 16GB onboard, and certain Series 3 models have that much.  There's a certain joy to knowing that your gym music will be perpetually fresh, or that you'll always have a favourite album for an outdoor run.

[Rupe]

As someone who uses the Samsung Gear Sport offline spotify is a mess that rarely works for any prolonged period of time, very frustrating to be halfway through a jog and your music stop and no way to get it to turn back on. There are large threads on the spotify forums of people complaining. People that have attempted to contact either Spotify or Samsung about the issue basically say one compnay will blame the other for the issues.