Apple released the beta version of WatchOS 4.1 for all its wearable devices. The software update includes Music and Radio Streaming making the Apple Watch a wearable iPod. An iPod is used to store and stream music on the device and some iPods even display the time. The Music app lets you listen to albums, playlists on your iPhone by automatically syncing them to your Apple watch and the Radio feature plays news and songs on available Radio Stations.
WatchOS 4 is a free update available to all the Apple Watch devices. This update is to be installed in the Apple Watch 2 devices and the Apple Watch 3 comes with this feature as pre-installed.
Music app:
WatchOS 4.1 beta version comes with 3 major updates. One of the update includes LTE playback with the Music app. This feature gives you Wi-Fi and Cellular access to the entire Apple Music Library i.e, around 40 million songs. The cellular connectivity feature will be available in Apple Watch 3 which allows you to make calls and perform cellular tasks like listening to Apple Music, messaging with Siri, etc without carrying around your iPhone.
You can even access the music on your iCloud Music Library without syncing them explicitly to your Apple Watch. The Library in Music app consists of Playlists, Artists, and Albums and Songs tabs and it contains all the songs of your My Music Library. After syncing, you can access the songs without an internet connection. In the previous versions of WatchOS, you need to manually add all the songs by connecting to Bluetooth.
With Siri, searching and playing the songs that aren’t present and available in your Library is easy when paired with your iPhone or connected to Wifi or LTE.
Radio app:
Not only the revamped Music app, watchOS 4.1 also includes Radio app which supports various radio stations such as Beats One, three live radio stations such as ESPN, CBS Radio, and NPR. With the ESPN radio station, you can catch up with the latest sports news from your Apple Watch. Not only these, there are a bunch of other radio stations based artists, genre and also personalized radio station for you to stream your favorite music.
Apple stated that the Radio app currently doesn’t work with the cellular connections in the beta version.
Conclusion:
With the new update, it’s a great way to listen to music and even news with the Music and Radio apps but it would be a lot better if they were compiled together in a single app so that there would be a slot left for any feature. One drawback of continuous streaming music is it drains out the battery of the device. This software update makes the Apple Watch device as a wearable iPod and it’s going to be a treat to all the music lovers.
WatchOS 4.1 will be available to the Apple Watch devices later this month. All the Apple Watch 2 owners get this a software update and the upcoming Apple Watch 3 will have built-in latest WatchOS 4.1.
Eagerly waiting for the WatchOS 4.1 update and the Apple Watch 3? Share your views in the comments!