The YouTube Music smartwatch app for Wear OS is now available but don’t get too excited

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You can now use YouTube Music on Wear OS, which was released today, a few months after Google promised it was bringing the app to other platforms. There’s a big ‘but’ here though, in that it only works on Samsung smartwatches running Wear OS 3.

Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad, maybe. I mean, Samsung is one of the larger smartwatch makers so it must have multiple options. Except… it doesn’t.

The only Samsung smartwatches on the planet that can run YouTube Music on Wear OS aren’t even out yet. Those are the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, which release on August 27. Yes, that’s tomorrow.

READ MORE: Google finally adds YouTube Music streaming to Wear OS watches

The limitations on hardware aren’t the only limits in the new app. The YouTube Music app for Wear OS won’t let you stream music. The only thing you can do is download tracks for playback. Downloads are further hampered by only working when the smartwatch is on its charger.

9to5Google also notes that most of your existing Wear OS devices won’t be getting the upgrade to Wear OS 3 (literally only three devices from TicWatch are), so you’re out of luck if you want to use YouTube Music on your wearable.

The YouTube Music for Wear OS app is up now on Google Play, so it’s ready for anyone who is buying a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 tomorrow.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.