You know how it goes, don’t you? Apple gives you access to many watchOS compatible music apps than you can even count. And it’s up to you to choose what you feel is best for your Apple Watch.
But browsing and testing hundreds of music apps to single out what’s good for you is, in my experience, a tall order.
There has to be a better way, the easy way. And that is to install and use apps that deliver the best listening experience all the time.
Key Takeaways
- Some music apps for Apple Watch are free to use but some require monthly premium membership.
- Apps such as Pandora and Spotify let you play audio files independent of your iPhone if you have a premium account.
- If you have a cellular Apple Watch, you can stream music on the go, even if you don’t have your iPhone nearby.
- While your Apple Watch has external speakers, you’ll need to connect to external Bluetooth earbuds or headphones to play audio files.
- Apple lets you store up to 10 hours’ worth of music downloads to its 32 GB internal storage.
5 Best Music Apps for Apple Watch
The App Store has hundreds of music apps for iOS and watchOS. Just the idea that developers spoil you for choice is a problem because you can’t easily determine what’s good for you and what’s not.
So, let me cut your search time down to a minimum by recommending what I’ve found to work well with my Apple Watch Series 8.
And the best part is?
You can use these apps with any Apple Watch from Series 4 to Ultra 2 because they’re responsive, watchOS 10 compatible, and very easy to use.
1. Spotify – Music and Podcasts
Spotify ranks at the top in the best music apps category, and that’s because it gives you access to thousands of lyrics, podcasts, and audiobooks.
You can use Spotify on Apple Watch with a free account, but upgrading to premium allows you to take full control of your listening experience 24/7.
The free account only supports playback control. It means you can control the audio playing on your iPhone, but you can’t download or play directly from the smartwatch.
If you decide to stick with the free Spotify account, make sure your iPhone and Apple Watch are in range, and in synchronization mode.
In addition to playing audio files on your wrist, premium membership on Spotify lets you download music, podcasts, and audiobooks to listen to offline. And you can even create your own playlist.
2. Apple Music
If you would like to keep it 100% Apple, get the Apple Music.
This app is a home to more than 100 million songs from artists all over the world, with a clean, well-built user interface that’s easy to navigate.
Apple gives you a 90-day free trial beginning from the time you set an Apple Music account.
Between the first and the last day of the trial period, you’ll have access to all controls and even get recommendations within the app.
The following the expiration of your trial period, you’ll need to subscribe to a premium membership of $9.99 per month to continue using the service.
3. Shazam: Music Discovery
Shazam lets you find songs, concerts, and lyrics fast. So if you want to find the music you truly love, this app lets you do that in seconds.
And once you find the tunes that you love, simply add them to your Apple Music for easy access and a more personalized experience.
The time-synced lyrics feature lets you follow along if you would like to learn a song you find interesting to sing. And if you don’t have internet access, you can Shazam offline even from your wrist.
Shazam is free to download, it has a clean and simple user interface, and it’s very easy to use. You’ll also love how fast and responsive it is on your Apple Watch and iPhone.
4. Pandora: Music & Podcasts
Pandora is one of the best Apple Watch music apps that focus on personalizing your listening experience by giving you access to music and podcasts that match your tastes.
There are two ways to use Pandora.
Your first option is to set up and use a free account.
The free account lets you create a playlist of your favorite songs, artists, and genre. You can even view the song currently playing and use the control tools to go to next, go to previous, shuffle, skip, and adjust volume.
The second option is to upgrade to premium, which costs $12.99 per month.
With premium, you can listen to Pandora offline and even get access to the latest songs, pre-created playlist, and albums.
5. Musixmatch Lyrics Finder
Musixmatch Lyric Finder app has the most extensive lyrics collection yet. So if you prefer to install an app like Shazam on your Apple Watch, this one is a good deal.
I love this app because it lets me find and synchronize lyrics with multilingual translations, something I’m certain you’ll equally find intriguing.
The translation feature lets you listen to music in the original language but see the lyrics in a completely different language.
So in a way, the Musixmatch Lyric Finder is a good music app to download if you want to learn a new language from a line-by-line music translation.
Musixmatch Lyric Finder works seamlessly with Spotify and Apple Music, so you can connect your accounts and sync your favorite tracks and playlists.
You can use a free Musixmatch Lyric Finder account or upgrade to premium. The free account limits your access to some features whereas a paid membership gives you access to all the features built into the app.
