Spotify has announced a brand new application for smartwatches running Google’s Wear OS. The app is an iteration of the previous Spotify app for Wear OS, and brings along UI improvements, and better sync capabilities with external hardware.
In a blog post on the topic, Spotify said:
Music moves people. But having to control pop, jazz, and rock all from your phone can feel restrictive. Sometimes you need the freedom to dive into any song at any moment. Starting today, Spotify’s new app for smartwatches on Wear OS by Google takes the work out of your hands (literally) and puts it on your wrist, leaving you free to run, dance, shop, socialize—and control your music at the same time.
Coming to the app, the new Spotify for Wear OS will provide you with enhanced controls browsing through and playing songs. With the addition of Spotify Connect features, you will now also be able to play music from your connected speakers. Meanwhile, the UI has remained pretty much the same with options to pause/skip tracks and rewind 15 seconds for podcasts.
The app also allows you to access recently played tracks and save them to your own playlists with a single tap. You can set the new app with Spotify Connect, and play music through laptops/speakers etc. However, the only major caveat is that unlike the Spotify app for Samsung Gear,the new Spotify app for WearOS does not support offline playback.
The company has also announced a partnership with the Fossil Group, under which it will be bringing an enhanced Spotify experience in the form of a standalone app for Wear OS by Google smartwatches to a larger subset of users.
Under the terms of the partnership, the Spotify application will be auto-installed on all Fossil Gen 4 Smartwatches and Michael Kors Access Runway Smartwatches. This should definitely put the new app in front of a greater number of eyeballs.
Speaking about the launch, Mikael Ericsson, Senior Product Director at Spotify said:
We’re excited to bring improved on-the-go-access to your favorite music and podcasts to millions of Spotify users on Wear OS by Google smartwatches. Being able to easily access, control, and connect music directly from your wrist opens up a world of new opportunities. We look forward to continuing to improve the Spotify experience in this space.
Meanwhile, if you want to download the new app and have a compatible device, click here.
