Google has at last released a Wear OS app for YouTube Music, which is definitely welcome news for those who have been waiting for an official way to play their music from Google’s streaming service after the company shut down Google Play Music on Wear OS back in August 2020.
First…
What is Wear OS?
Wear OS, previously known as Android Wear, is a version of the more common Google’s Android System that is designed and streamlined to work with smartwatches and other wearables like body-borne computers.
However, as is in most cases with new Google products, the new app has a few caveats.
The biggest and most obvious one is that the app will only work on Wear OS 3. Now, Wear OS 3 is currently available on Samsung’s new two smartwatches that were announced on 27th August 2021 meaning unless you have a Galaxy Watch 4 or a Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, you can not experience the app for a while until other companies roll out their smartwatches running Wear OS 3 over the coming months.
Unnecessary hurdles from Google
I personally feel locking the YouTube Music App to only Wear OS 3 is Google fragmenting its users for no particular reason.
A strong pointer to this is that Spotify, one of YouTube Music’s main rivals, has rolled out an update to older Wear OS devices complete with offline playback. So why is it that Google is seemingly unable to do the same with the YouTube Music app?
A possible explanation is that Google, by starving users from updates to their older devices, might be forced to acquire the newer ones running Wear OS 3, therefore, earning the company more in the long term, or it may just be a case of the company being lazy which is less likely to be the case.
You might have already thought about sideloading the app to an older Wear OS 2-based watch, but unfortunately, this will not be an option. The YouTube Music app is written with Android 11 as the minimum API level, while the older Wear OS 2 watches are based on the much older Android 9 (Pie).
The Google Music Wear OS app that was shut down had more features and wider compatibility than YouTube Music, so it does not make sense why the minimum API has been set so high other than to lock out other users running older hardware.
More caveats regarding the YouTube Music app on Wear OS 3
If you satisfy the harder parts of acquiring a device that runs the Wear OS 3, a few more annoying details await you. According to 9to5Google, There does not seem to be a way to stream music from the app.
You will only have access to music that you have downloaded, which more annoyingly, songs can only be downloaded while the watch is on a charger, 9to5Google reports after having a special hands on with the app.
Final thoughts
Admittedly, the wearables and smartwatches culture are still in their infancy stage in Kenya, but strides being made in any field are always welcome despite Google’s best efforts to lock out part of its users from the ecosystem and forcing an upgrade.
Google as usual has not shared details about when the app might be available on other Wear OS devices.
Note: YouTube Music remains inaccessible in Kenya and the app, as currently available, is only good for local media playback.
