Google announced today that the YouTube Music app on Wear OS is rolling out the ability for users to stream music over LTE or WiFi. The new feature will let users discover new music without having to download content beforehand. In a community blog post about the new feature, the company positions it as a way to “listen to your favorite playlists wherever you go, even when your phone isn’t nearby.”
The feature was first teased at Samsung’s Unpacked event earlier this year. Users will need a YouTube Music Premium subscription to access the new streaming support. Google notes that you need an LTE plan from your provider to use a cellular connection. The company also outlines that cellular streaming is not supported on iOS.
To stream YouTube Music content without a paired device nearby, you can open YouTube Music on your watch and select the song or playlist you want to listen to. After that, the content will stream and play over the available connection.
Google also introduced a new YouTube Music tile for Wear OS that users can add to their watch. The new tile will allow users to access recently played content quickly and navigate to the “browse” page of the app.
The company notes that YouTube Music Premium subscribers get access to more than 80 million songs and thousands of playlists on the YouTube Music app. It outlines that the standalone app allows YouTube Music Premium subscribers to download and stream music for ad-free listening without needing to have their phones nearby. The app also includes a Smart Downloads feature that refreshes the songs you’ve downloaded to your watch whenever it’s connected to Wi-Fi.
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