How to Play YouTube Music on Apple Watch Online/Offline

Your Apple Watch does more than track fitness and answer calls. It can also stream music, including from YouTube Music. Since October 2020, the YouTube Music app has been available on Apple Watch, letting you browse your library, control playback, and stream music via WiFi or cellular.

But what if your watch isn't connected? Don't worry! In this post, I'll show you how to download YouTube Music to Apple Watch for offline listening without your phone. Plus, I'll cover the official way to use YouTube Music with your iPhone. Let's get started!

Part 1. Official Way to Play YouTube Music on Apple Watch Online [With iPhone]

If your Apple Watch is Series 3 or above and running watchOS 6 and later, you're able to access the playback of YouTube Music with the official YouTube Music app for the Apple Watch. To directly play YouTube Music within your Apple Watch, you'll need to get a YouTube Premium Music subscription. Before diving in, here are the system requirements:

Feature	Requirement
Watch Model	Apple Watch Series 3 or later
watchOS	watchOS 6 or later
iPhone	iOS 16 or later with YouTube Music installed
Subscription	YouTube Music Premium required
Headphones	Bluetooth headphones (required for audio playback)

Here's the full guide on how to listen to YouTube Music on Apple Watch.

1.1 How to Download YouTube Music to Apple Watch

You have two ways to add the YouTube Music app to your Apple Watch.

Method 1. Pair Apple Watch with iPhone (running iOS 16 or later)

Step 1. Open your iPhone and launch Watch app;
Step 2. Click on My Watch, find the YouTube Music app that you already downloaded on your iPhone and click on Install;
Step 3. Then you will see the YouTube Music app is on your Apple Watch.

Method 2. Install YouTube Music directly on Apple Watch

Step 1. Press the Digital Crown to enter the Home screen, then go to App Store;
Step 2. Find YouTue Music in the search box and clikc on Get.

1.2 How to Play YouTube Music Songs on Apple Watch

After installing the YouTube Music app by using the paired iPhone or from the built-in App Store, you can follow the quick steps below to enjoy the YouTube music on Apple Watch.

Step 1. Launch the YouTube Music app on your Apple Watch.
Step 2. Click Library to browse the playlists and albums on the YouTube Music app.
Step 3. Select a song to play according to the instructions.

You can now easily control the playback of YouTube Music, such as pause, forward, backward, and even the option to give thumbs up for your preferred songs on the app.

Note: Here's a short summary of what the native YouTube Music app can and cannot do:

Feature	Supported?
Control playback (play/pause/skip)	✅
Browse library or playlists	✅
Stream from cellular Apple Watch without iPhone	❌
Offline playback on Apple Watch	❌
Play music from watch speaker	❌ (needs Bluetooth headphones)

Part 2. How to Play YouTube Music on Apple Watch Offline [Without iPhone]

As stated, you cannot directly download YouTube Music songs to Apple watch as it offers no features of offline listening. Currently, the Apple Watch works more like a music remote for your iPhone. So if you want true offline playback or streaming without iPhone, there are a few effective workarounds using third-party tools. Here's how:

2.1 Download YouTube Music for Apple Watch

As Apple Watch allows you to add the music library to its local with storage of up to 2 GB, you can use a YouTube Music converter to download tracks and sync them via your iPhone.

Tool 1. TunesKit Audio Capture (Desktop Program)

The first professional YouTube Music Downloader you should try is TunesKit Audio Capture. It's well-designed to help you download your preferred YouTube Music to your computer in the forms of MP3, AAC, and WAV which can be played on your Apple Watch. In addition, it can capture multiple audio tracks at the same time and remain the original audio quality and ID3 tags. With it, you could easily download your preferred music tracks whether from YouTube Music or YouTube music videos.

The following is how to use TunesKit Audio Capture to quick download YouTube music to MP3 without quality loss.

Step 1 Just click the "Try It Free" button below to install the smart program.

Step 2 Launch TunesKit Audio Capture on your computer. First, you need to add the YouTube Music source to its main interface by clicking on the + button. It could be a browser like Chrome or the YouTube Music desktop app.

Tap the Format drop-down arrow in the lower left corner. There you'll be allowed to adjust the output format to be compatible with Apple Watch, such as MP3, AAC, and WAV.

Step 3 Next, open the YouTube Music source to search for music tracks you want. All you need is to start to play the song and the TunesKit YouTube Music Downloader will start capturing it simultaneously. When you finish, click on the Stop button.

Step 4 Click the Stop and Save button to save music to your computer. After downloading music, you can click the History button to find all of the downloaded music on the History list; click the Open icon to locate them percisely on your computer.

Tool 2. YTMP3 (Online Tool)

Due to the relationship of YouTube and YouTube Music, it is available to get MP3 YouTube Music with online YouTube to MP3 converter such as YTMP3. It is an effective YouTube Music downloader online which allows you to get MP3 YouTube Music in a short time. The output quality is good, but there are many ads appear when using it.

Step 1. Go to the website of YouTube Music and start playing the music you want to download.
Step 2. Click the three-dotted icon on the playing control line to get the URL of the music by click the Share option.
Step 3. Enter the website of YTMP3 and paste the URL on the search bar.
Step 4. Click the Convert button to get a MP3 file and click the Download button to save it to your computer.

2.2 Sync and Trasfer YouTube Music to Apple Watch for Offline Playing

Now your preferred YouTube Music songs are downloaded and converted on your computer, and you can add them to your Apple Watch with your iPhone. Then you are free to listen to YouTube Music offline without iPhone.

Step 1 After launching iTunes on your computer, click File > Add File to Library to add the downloaded YouTube Music music to iTunes.

Step 2 Connect your iPhone to the computer via a USB cable, and tap your iPhone in the upper right corner of iTunes. Then click the Menu bar and select Sync Music > Entire music library to sync the YouTube Music downlaods to your iPhone.

Step 3 Turn on the Bluetooth on your iPhone by navigating to Settings > Bluetooth. Launch the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and switch to the My Watch option. Then click Music > Add Music to add the YouTube Music songs to your Apple Watch.

Part 3. FAQs about YouTube Music on Apple Watch

Running into a snag? Here are answers to the most common questions and problems users face.

Q1: Can I listen to YouTube Music songs on Apple Watch without phone?

Not with the official app. The app acts as a remote and needs your iPhone nearby. You're suggested to use TunesKit Audio Capture or YTMP3 to download it and listening to YouTube Music on Apple Watch without your phone.

Q2: Why is YouTube Music not working on my Apple Watch?

Make sure that your Apple Watch and paired iPhone are running the latest version of the YouTube Music app. Then relaunch it on your Apple Watch. If it's still not working, you can reinstall it or download the latest version from App Store on your Apple Watch.

Q3: Does Apple Watch have a speaker for music?

No, there is no speaker for music on Apple Watch. You need Bluetooth headphones or speaker to listen to music on your Apple Watch. But you can hear the voice from Siri, phone calls, voicemail, and voice memos on Apple Watch.

Q4: Why won't Apple Watch connect to Bluetooth?

Maybe you should check the settings on your devices. If the one of your two devices has WiFi or Bluetooth turne off, or either of them are in Airplane Mode, they cannot pair.

Part 4. Conclusion

Though Apple Watch currently doesn't offer users the ability to download and stream YouTube Music for offline listening, TunesKit Audio Capture makes it possible to listen to your preferred YouTube Music on Apple Watch offline without phone wherever you go. As long as you follow the methods we listed above, you can play YouTube Music on your Apple Watch, whether you go for a walk or run in the park. Don't hesitate to get one to have a try!