by Jim Lynch

Apple Watch: Sync an Apple Music playlist

How-To
Aug 03, 2015
Consumer Electronics

How to add an Apple Music playlist to your Apple Watch from your iPhone

Many people are unaware that it’s possible sync a music playlist from your iPhone to your Apple Watch. The Apple Watch itself offers 2GB of storage for music, so syncing a playlist can be a great way to have some of the music you love available right on your Apple Watch.

And you aren’t limited to your own music playlists, you can even sync a playlist from Apple Music to your Apple Watch. I’ll show you how to do just that in this tip. Be aware though that you’ll need a Bluetooth headset to listen to music on your Apple Watch (I’ll have more to say about that below).

How to sync an Apple Music playlist to your Apple Watch

Syncing an Apple Watch music to your Apple Watch from your iPhone is quite easy. Just follow these steps.

1. Make sure that your Apple Music playlist is available offline.

2. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

3. Tap on Music.

4. Tap on Synced Playlist.

5. Tap on the Playlist you want to sync to your Apple Watch.

apple watch sync apple music playlists

You can easily sync an Apple Music playlist from your iPhone to your Apple Watch for listening via a Bluetooth headset.

Your Apple Music playlist will be synced over to your Apple Watch, and you can then listen to it right on your watch.

How to play songs on your Apple Watch

Once you’ve synced your Apple Music playlist over to your Apple Watch, you’ll want to play your songs on your watch. Here’s how you can do that:

1. Open the Music app on your Apple Watch.

2. Force press to see options and then tap on Source, then tap on Apple Watch (watchOS 1). Or simply tap on the watch icon to use your watch as the music source (watchOS 2).

3. Pair your Apple Watch with a Bluetooth headset and then enjoy your Apple Music playlist right on your Apple Watch.

But what about music on the Apple Watch without a Bluetooth headset?

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to listen to music on the Apple Watch right now without a Bluetooth headset. Most people probably wouldn’t want to listen to music on the Apple Watch speaker for any length of time anyway since it’s not going to provide the best sound and would probably be hard to hear. It might also annoy people who are in your vicinity while you use your Apple Watch.

On the other hand, I can sort of understand why some folks might at least want the option to hear their music without a Bluetooth headset on the Apple Watch. There might be some situations where listening to music on the Apple Watch speaker would work perfectly well for some users, and it would be nice if they at least had that option.

We’ll just have to wait and see if Apple ultimately adds the option of listening to music on the Apple Watch without a Bluetooth headset. The company could change its mind and allow it with just a simple software update if it wants to at some point.

But for now you’ll need a Bluetooth headset to listen to your Apple Music playlists on the Apple Watch.

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