Spotify begins rolling out support for streaming audio from its standalone Apple Watch app
Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac :
Context & Ripple Effects
This rollout closes a gap that has defined Spotify's watch story since its companion app was first developed with third-party developer Snowy in 2017 and launched in 2018: as that initial Apple Watch release shipped without LTE streaming or downloads, the app could only act as a remote for the phone. Streaming audio from the wrist makes the Watch app a player in its own right rather than a controller.
It also brings the watch experience closer to what Spotify already offered elsewhere — the company had earlier shipped a standalone control-and-browse app for Wear OS — and sets up the platform for the offline playback for playlists, albums, and podcasts that followed for Premium subscribers.
First-order effects
- Apple Watch owners with cellular models can leave the iPhone behind and still play their Spotify library directly from the wrist.
Second-order effects
- Apple Music's deeper native position on watchOS loses one of its clearest differentiators, pressuring feature parity across music apps on the platform.
Third-order effects
- Smartwatches keep moving from phone accessories toward standalone devices, with each service's watch app becoming an independent surface where subscription battles are fought.
The trend: Music streaming services are steadily rebuilding their phone apps as fully independent smartwatch experiences, eroding the iPhone's role as the required hub.