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Spotify is rolling out the ability to stream music from your Apple Watch without an iPhone nearby

Spotify is rolling out the ability to stream music from your Apple Watch without an iPhone nearby

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No iPhone needed

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Spotify is rolling out the ability to stream music right from your Apple Watch, the company confirmed to The Verge. Since the app’s launch in 2018, the Apple Watch worked primarily as a remote for Spotify music playing on an iPhone or Spotify Connect-compatible device. But once the new feature is rolled out to you, you’ll be able to stream music from Spotify on your Apple Watch to Bluetooth headphones or speakers when you’re not near your phone.

My colleague Ian Carlos Campbell has access to the streaming feature, and he told me how to set it up. First, on the music player screen, tap the devices menu at the bottom-right corner. If you have the streaming feature, you should see your Apple Watch at the top of the list (and for him, that had a “beta” tag in front of the watch name).

If you tap that, the app will then prompt you to select from a Bluetooth device connected to your Apple Watch, such as your AirPods or a Bluetooth speaker nearby. Pick the device of your choice, and music will start streaming.

The streaming feature requires that you have an Apple Watch Series 3 or later, watchOS 6.0 or later, a cellular or Wi-Fi connection, and the latest version of the Spotify app, according to a Spotify support document.

Streaming isn’t the only recent addition to Spotify’s Apple Watch app: the company added the ability to ask Siri to play music through the Apple Watch in April.