Offline Spotify playback is finally coming to Wear OS, but Garmin may still have the edge
Wear OS (now Wear) may have plenty of third-party apps from which to choose, but its music streaming services offering is lacklustre. Currently, the smartwatch platform does not support offline music on any major streaming platform, whether that be Amazon Music, Deezer, Spotify or even YouTube Music. As it stands, Spotify only offers offline downloads for two smartwatch platforms: Garmin and Tizen OS.
Google has now confirmed that this is on the verge of changing, at least for Spotify. However, the wording of Google's announcement suggests that Wear OS will only obtain feature parity with Tizen OS, not Garmin. The difference is subtle, but Tizen OS supports offline playlists, while Garmin can play any music or podcasts when offline.
XDA Developers claims that Wear will support offline music and podcasts, but Google's announcement suggests otherwise. On the contrary, Google emphasised that offline support will be for playlists, not anything else. Ultimately, the difference in functionality between Wear and Garmin is minor, but Garmin's offering is the more flexible of the two. You can watch Google's 'What's new with Wear' below. The part about Spotify integration starts at 12:50 minutes.
Source(s)
Google via XDA Developers & Nils Ahrensmeier, Image credit - AndroidAyuda
