Wear OS Users Can Now Stream YouTube Music Without a Phone

    
    Angela Lang/CNET
    

    Google has begun rolling out a Wear OS update that’ll let users stream YouTube Music playlists over LTE or Wi-Fi — without the need to have a phone nearby.
    Premium subscribers will have access to more than 80 million songs and thousands of playlists on the app, Google said in a blog post Monday. The app also comes with Google’s Smart Downloads feature, which automatically refreshes songs downloaded to your Wear OS watch whenever it’s connected to Wi-Fi.
    Before the update, subscribers to the service could download music for offline listening, but the update will support music streaming without a phone nearby.
    However, users will need to have an LTE plan through their wireless provider for the cellular connection, which also isn’t supported on Apple’s iOS.
    Google also said Wear OS users can add a YouTube Music tile to their watch that lets them access recently played music or the app’s browse page.
    Google originally announced in February that YouTube Music Premium subscribers would get support for Wi-Fi and LTE streaming, along with anyone using an existing Wear OS 2 watch.