Galaxy watch 4 playback through watch speaker

[Rochs918]

We need support for music playback through the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 speaker. The previous versions of the watch had Spotify on the Tizen OS and it played through the device speaker. Now since the switch to Wear OS it is not possible to play through the device speaker. This is a badly needed change to the Spotify app on Wear OS. Please fix and update! 

[joshuafrichards]

I can now download music, but still can't listen thought the Galaxy Watch 4's speaker.

[thaichristen]

A guy at reddit says the same but it didn't work for me. Tried many times but Media Player keeps playing the tracks that are stored on my phone, not what is being played on Spotify.

Can give step by step guidance please?

[thaichristen]

A guy at reddit says the same but it didn't work for me. Tried many times but Media Player keeps playing the tracks that are stored on my phone, not what is being played on Spotify.
Can give step by step guidance please?

[Paulh121]

Ok so I just tried it again and it looks like you have to connect Spotify to a Bluetooth device first, when the track starts playing go to the Media Controller and press on the headphones icon bottom left and change the audio output to speaker.

It definitely works although it's not the best way to get the music playing through the watch speaker, hopefully Spotify can help to make it better with an update.

[thaichristen]

Thanks it works now! At least we have a workaround until Spotify get this fixed.

However, there are some caveats:

1) You need to open Media Controller as widget. Open Media Controller via the app menu doesn't work.

2) Once you set playback on watch speaker, you can basically do everything in Spotify (skip tracks, pause, switch playlist etc.). BUT this only works if you leave the connection to your bluetooth device intact. If you disconnect or turn off your bluetooth device, the watch speaker keeps playing your music but skipping tracks is not possible anymore (you can still change volume though). And if you pause and want to re-play, you must reconnect to bluetooth device again.

So for my running and workout session, I just leave the music play continuously through watch speaker until I am done (only have the watch with me, no phone or headsets)

I really hope Spotify will fix this matter very soon because this is a unique feature only possible on Samsung watches with speakers.

[Rochs918]

I can confirm that this works too, but it is certainly not a fix!

Here's what I did this morning before I ran:

1. Opened the Spotify app on my watch
2. Selected a playlist in the app on my watch, pressed Play
3. The device selection menu comes up, selected This Watch
4. The Bluetooth menu came up.
5. Selected my Galaxy Buds 2 as the bluetooth device, took them out of the case and put in my ears
6. Music started playing on my buds
7. Put the buds back in the case, the music paused, closed the case
8. Pressed the home button, then brought up the media controller from the app drawer
9. Selected the Watch button on the bottom, pressed play, and the music started playing through the watch speaker
10. At this point I was able to press the Home button, then the media icon at the 6 o'clock position on the watch face to bring up Spotify
11. I was able to pause and play the music and it continued through the speaker
12. I was also able to swipe from the right to bring up the music playback selection.  I selected a new playlist, and hit Shuffle Play, and it also played through the watch speaker.
13. However, when I hit pause a few songs in, and hit play again, it brought up the bluetooth menu again.  So perhaps it's when the bluetooth device has been disconnected for a long enough time, and you hit pause, then it won't allow playback through the watch speaker.

So the best bet for now is to set up a nice long playlist, connect your ear buds, hit play, put the buds away, bring up the media controller and play through the watch.  Don't touch the playback controls at all, open up Samsung Health to bring up the running screen, hit Go and you're all set.  You can swipe from the right to bring up the media controller to adjust the volume while running.  Don't hit pause at all though, because it won't come back up, just lower the volume to zero if you really need to turn it off.

I hope this information helps other users, and the team at Spotify to diagnose this issue and allow easy playback through the watch speaker.

[a22matic]

You all are correct. I tested it yesterday and it works. Not ideal, but at least there's a not so great workaround.

I mainly play downloaded tracks (shuffled), so no worries there. Only thing I have to remember is no pausing. Just lower the volume which is an extra step.

FYI - I was able to use LTE for a song or two and stream non-downloaded songs, but I won't actually try this until after my run. With the overheating issues I've experienced, I doubt it would last in hot weather during a strenuous workout.

Thanks all!

[Rochs918]

That's strange that your watch overheats. I've had no issues and mine is 4g
and streaming music with always on display on. Might need to send that back
to Samsung!

[joshuafrichards]

Mine (46mm Classic LTE) overheats within a few minutes of streaming over LTE. It's ridiculous and completely invalidates the reason I bought the LTE version.

[thaichristen]

Quick update: during workout mode it is possible to pause and resume playback as many times as you want, switch playlist too (online/offline playlist work both as long as you are connected to your phone or wifi), change volume. However, skipping tracks is not possible though. If you are doing multiple workouts it is key that you NEVER STOP your current workout. Just pause then add new workout whenever you are ready. Then you are fine.

My procedure this morning:

1) Turn on bluetooth loudspeaker and let it connect to my watch

2) In Spotify select my offline running playlist and press play. Music plays through bluetooth loudspeaker.

3) Turn off bluetooth loudspeaker, open Media Controller as widget and select loudspeaker. Music plays through watch loudspeaker.

4) Get out of my house and start running workout (music playing continuously).

5) When I get back home, pause running workout (my watch is reconnected to my phone).

6) When I am ready, add new gym workout. Open Spotify and switch to my favourite streaming online playlist for gym session.

7) When I am done, add a new stretching workout session.

Note: during this whole time, the music plays continuously through the watch speaker.

And remember, Spotify sucks a lot of juice! So make sure you have enough battery. For 2h with AOD, GPS on, it took me 50% battery!

So at least for the moment, I can live with this workaround.

But this is a bug and Spotify should fix it ASAP!

[simosgiorgos]

Any updates from Spotify , on this subject? Any progress made since last time you mentioned you will have a look on this issues? Cheers

[a22matic]

I haven't heard anything and am still having the same issue. I use the workaround, but won't do that forever. I complained to Samsung, and they gave me another extension for sending back my Watch 3. If this and the overheating (LTE Model) issue isn't fixed soon, my Watch 4 is going back. Not worth it, as my Watxh 3 never gave me one problem.

[Alex]

Hi folks,

Thanks for your posts.

The right folks at Spotify are aware of this case. We don't have any official information when or if this will be resolved, as it involves third party devices and services and it's not entirely up to Spotify.

We'll let you know here as soon as we have more news on the matter.

Cheers.

[Groggyfrog]

Hi all, i manage to find a simple workaround - not sure if anyone has already mention this.
Not the best, but it's not too troublesome.

Step 1. Make sure your phone and watch is connected, both with Spotify installed.
Step 2. Play music on your Spotify app on your phone.
Step 3. Press 'Devices Available' and select your watch, it will automatically switch the audio output from your phone to your watch's speaker.

I've tested this multiple times and can confirm that it works. I've also tried changing playlist, changing songs etc - they all work. Only downside is that the moment you press pause on your watch, you'll need to repeat the same process from step 2. 

[chenshuiluke]

Thanks bro, this is working well for me so far. Hope Spotify has an official solution soon though!

[drjetmou]

Sounds like the good solution but when I tried selecting a device, my watch doesn't show up.   So I can't switch.

[FVMaster]

Plan

Premium

Device

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4

Operating System

Wear Os

 My Question or Issue

 Hello, for at least 2 months now there is the specific issue on samsung galaxy watch 4 , the issue is that spotify can't play the music from the built in speakers and it can only play from the connected Bluetooth devices. According to this article :https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00051414/

It's mentioned this: "On some watch models, you'll need to listen to the music through Bluetooth headphones. On other models, like the Galaxy Watch4, Galaxy Watch 3, Galaxy Watch Active2, Galaxy Watch, and Gear S3, the music can play through the watch's speakers."

So it is obvious that spotify has a serious issue.

I must also note the speakers of the watch are working fine with youtube music and videos from the Samsung broswer.And its disappointing buying a watch only for this purpose and paying spotify premium to face such serious issues. I must also note this is a well known issue across the internet for the specific devices and I know that I am not the only one who is having the specific issue but this is a common issue across all samsung galaxy watch 4 users!

[Alex]

Hey @FVMaster,

Thanks for sharing your info with the Community.

We've passed it on to the right teams at Spotify. 

We don't have official info on when or if exactly this will be fixed. We recommend keeping your apps up to date, not to miss any new releases.

Cheers.

[Musicalthinker]

Can I stream Spotify music on to my Galaxy Watch4? I just bought it yesterday, and if I can't do this then I wll be returning it. Thanks for any information!

[Musicalthinker]

Is there any update on this issue? I just purchased the Samsung Smartwatch 4 because it had this capability, but I'm having a really difficult time figuring it out (I'm talking hours trying to figure out how to stream music to the watch). It is looking like I will be returning the watch soon because the last watch I had (like 4 or 5 years ago in fact) had no problem with this. I think it was the Huawei watch 2? Anyways, no need to reinvent the wheel, I will find another way, with or without Spotify.