Google is finally bringing streaming to its YouTube Music app on Wear OS. It now joins Spotify as the main method of streaming music on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and other Wear OS-powered smartwatches.
“We’re excited to share that the YouTube Music app on your Wear OS watch is rolling out two new features. First, starting this week you will be able to stream music over LTE or Wi-Fi, so you can listen to your favorite playlists wherever you go, even when your phone isn’t nearby. Second, you can now add a new YouTube Music tile to your watch that allows quick access to your recently played playlist or to the browse page of the YouTube Music app,” the Wear OS team shared.
Google rolled out YouTube Music to Wear OS watches after the launch of the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic last year, albeit limited to streaming only. The company was joined by Spotify shortly afterward, giving Wear OS users options when it came to music. You’ll still need a YouTube Premium subscription to stream without ads or download on Wear OS, and Google notes that cellular streaming is limited to Android phones only.
The company isn’t leaving Wear OS neglected like before — at least in the short term. The company recently announced a Pixel Watch, as well as a partnership with Samsung. It’s certainly working on building up its native suite of apps so even if third parties weren’t delivering expected experiences, people who purchased Wear OS watches would have services they could rely on. More importantly, little app updates like this serve to continually signal that Google is paying attention, though it may take more than that to sway the more skeptical.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.