Finally some good news for owners of some current Wear OS smartwatches.
Google has confirmed that it will launch its YouTube Music app for older Wear 2.x devices.
To recap, Google’s focus is now on Wear 3.0, which has launched on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, and announced for select devices including Fossil Gen 6, TicWatch Pro 3 and E3. However, the update won’t roll back onto any other existing Wear OS devices.
As part of Wear 3.0, Google is revamping the apps and services – and that includes its music offering. But YouTube Music was not included in a blog post on services that would move to Wear 2.0 – leading to speculation that it wouldn’t be supported.
But two months on, Google has confirmed it will – sort of. There’s a catch.
Google has confirmed YouTube Music will roll out to those devices that will receive Wear 3.0 – namely, the Fossil Gen 6, TicWatch Pro 3 and E3.
That’s good for those users – but not so great for the rest of the Wear OS army.
Google has indicated that some other existing Wear OS smartwatches will get access to the app – but didn’t reveal which or when.
In effect, Wear OS is now a two-tier platform. Legacy devices are being left with finite support and a no access to some of the best apps. And all the focus is on newer devices, and those running Snapdragon 4100 that will eventually get upgraded to Wear 3.0 some time in 2022.
Of course, Spotify has launched its upgraded app with offline syncing for all Wear OS users – so anyone with a Wear smartwatch can just use that instead.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.