Apple Watches; you either love them or you hate them.
For many people, their Apple Watch is an indispensable device that pairs well with the rest of their devices such as their iPhone or iPad.
A pertinent question on the lips of many Apple Watch skeptics is, “Can Apple Watches play music?”
The answer to that is, OFCOURSE YOU CAN!
Infact, one of its most useful features is that you can play music on your Apple Watch
It beats having to take out your phone all the time and when combined with Apple’s own AirPods, the Apple Watch is a fantastic little gadget that is surprisingly practical.
However, you’re going to need a good music app to make it easier and more enjoyable to play music on your Apple Watch.
1. Apple Watch Music App
The Apple Watch Music app is a great place to start. Although the features are limited, it does at least sync with your other Apple devices so you can use the same playlists and iTunes account as you do on your phone.
Although it’s nothing special, the default music app works fine, comes with basic features that you would expect from any music player and you don’t need to download any additional apps for it.
It’s a good baseline experience, but what if you want something a bit more interesting or feature-rich?
Apple Music Radio on Apple Watch
A bonus to remember is the Apple Music Radio on Apple Watch which gives you access to reams of content, including the excellent Beats 1 Radio!
The Apple Watch Music App & Apple Music Radio is available on the below models;
Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4 & Apple Watch Series 5
2. Pandora Music App
Just like the website, Pandora is a personalized radio station. It creates stations based on your preferences such as your favourite songs, artists and genres.
You can also browse different recommended radio stations depending on what you’re up to.
It’s free with ads, but you can purchase a premium subscription that allows you to search for and play your favourite songs and allows you to download the music for offline listening.
The Pandora Music Apple Watch App is available on the below models;
Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4 & Apple Watch Series 5
3. Shazam
Shazam is an app that helps you instantly identify music. It makes it possible for you to discover new music whenever you hear it and also find new music from the artists that you enjoy listening to.
A great feature of Shazam is the ability to preview songs and instantly add them to an Apple Music playlist, meaning it can easily integrate with your Apple Watch.
It also has integration with Pandora, meaning you can launch stations by the artists that you discover.
The Shazam Apple Watch App is available for the below models;
Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4 & Apple Watch Series 5
4. TuneIn Pro – Radio & Sports
TuneIn Pro (Tunein for Apple watch) allows you to listen to your favourite radio stations. There are over 100,000 stations to pick from so you’re going to get a ridiculously large selection of sports, music, news and even talk shows.
It has built-in integration that works with the Apple Watch and there is also an optional premium service that gives you exclusive access to commercial-free music stations and live play-by-plays for MLB and BPL games.
The TuneIn Radio Apple Watch App for is available on the below models;
Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4 & Apple Watch Series 5
5. SoundHound – Music Discovery
Like Shazam, SoundHound helps you discover new music. It makes it simple to discover new music around you no matter where you are.
You simply open the app, press the orange SoundHound button and wait for the app to identify the song that’s playing.
Any songs that you discover can be played back with the built-in YouTube player and it has voice recognition, making it great for your Apple Watch.
The SoundHound App for is available on the below Apple Watch models;
Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4 & Apple Watch Series 5
6. Spotify – Apple Watch Music App
Alongside Apple Music, Spotify is one of the largest music streaming companies in the world.
Spotify’s Apple Watch Music App is easy to use and whilst it does not have a long list of features, it allows you to control Spotify Music playback on any connected devices, such as speakers, iPod, iPhones, Macbooks & more.
You will be able to pause, play, skip, rewind, favourite and switch between playlists, all from the Apple Watch Music app. One feature that is coming soon is the ability to sync your Spotify music to your watch, allowing you to listen to music without you needing to have your phone on you!
One big plus for this application is that you do not need a premium Spotify subscription, as long as you do not mind the occasional advertisement.
The Spotify Music App for Apple Watch is available on the below Apple Watch models;
Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4 & Apple Watch Series 5
7. Deezer – Apple Watch Music App
Deezer is very similar to Spotify, not just in the service that it provides, but also in the functionality of its Apple Watch Music App.
Listen to your favourite playlists, control playback and access Deezer Flow – Deezers AI radio station which uses your listening history to curate an endless playlist for you to listen to until your heart is content.
Deezer’s Apple Watch App is available on the below Apple Watch models;
Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4 & Apple Watch Series 5
8. VLC Mobile – Media Player for Apple Watch
Throughout the years, VLC has carved out an excellent reputation as one of the most versatile and dependable media players on the internet.
VLC’s applications have always been about functionality and the VLC Mobile Apple Watch App is no different!
If you are playing any form of media via VLC from a device that is connected to your Apple Watch, you will be able to control playback, adjust volume, view details of what is playing and also changes playlists.
VLC Mobile for Apple Watch is completely FREE, open source and available on the below Apple Watch models;
Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4 & Apple Watch Series 5
9. Musixmatch – Lyric Finder app
Musixmatch is quite simply one of the best apps available for finding, learning and reciting lyrics.
It is able to identify and display the lyrics to songs that are playing through your device. It is also able to identify songs that are playing out loud around, making it great for remembering songs that you hear when you are on the go!
Musixmatch has a FREE and Paid Premium option and is available on the below Apple Watch models;
Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4 & Apple Watch Series 5
10. Overcast – Podcast App
Overcast is a podcast playback application with a companion app that is available for Apple Watch.
With a wide variety of features such as; volume boosting of dialog, sleep timers, distortion free playback speed increases & the ability to test podcasts for free.
The Apple Watch app allows you to control playback and also sync audio to the watch, allowing you to listen to your favourite podcasts without needing to keep your phone on you at all times.
Overcast is FREE for iOS with an optional subscription fee to remove advertisements. It is available on the below Apple Watch models;
Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4 & Apple Watch Series 5
11. djay 2 – DJing Application
djay 2 is a mobile application that provides users a little more control over your playlists.
The Apple Watch companion app allows you to mix your playlists, add effects, repeat, auto-sync and loop sections of the tracks you are listening to. If you would rather not get to too technical, you can always set the app to auto-mix your entire playlist, all of which can be done from your wrist!
djay 2 is £1.99 on the app store and available on the below Apple Watch models;
Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4 & Apple Watch Series 5