Apple Watch Music and iPhone Music Library

Question

Apple Watch Music and iPhone Music Library

I am new to Apple Watch, and I'm trying to figure out if there is something wrong with the Music app, or if it is working as intended.

Apple Watch Series 9 at WatchOS 10.1.1 and iPhone SE 3 at iOS 17.1.1.

I am NOT an Apple Music subscriber. I have a large library of music (> 14,000 songs) synced from a Mac to the iPhone.

When I launch the Music app on the Apple Watch, I can see all of the playlists, artists, albums and songs that are in the iPhone's music library. If I tap on "Playlists," select a playlist, then tap "Play," the playlist will start playing on the iPhone.

If I tap on "Albums," I can see all the albums that are in the iPhone music library. If I tap on an album, the "Play" button is greyed out and tapping it does not do anything. However, if the album has been downloaded to the Apple Watch, then I can tap the Play button, and the album will start playing on the Apple Watch.

Is this normal behavior? It seems that if you can start playing a playlist from the Apple Watch, you should also be able to start playing an album using the same interface.

Apple Watch Series 9

Posted on Nov 14, 2023 06:13 AM

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Answer 1

d3si9n

Level 1

0 points

Dec 21, 2023 10:44 PM in response to wesleyfromorlando

There use to be a button in the music app in the watch that said “on iPhone”. This allowed you to access your entire music library. The button is gone in watchOS 10.

So I’m assuming you’re limited to playing songs downloaded to the watch. Even if you select a playlist, my guess is that it only plays songs that are in that playlist and downloaded to the watch.

For now it appears you’re forced to start music from the iPhone and then control it from the watch.

I know, I hate it too.

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Apple Watch Music and iPhone Music Library

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