4 ms·

Pretty annoying as an Apple Watch user to find out only Apple Music is allowed to store music on the device itself.

saagarjha 8y ago
I don't see why other watchOS apps cannot store music on the watch itself. Don't apps get some local storage space? Why can't they use that?
- g105b 8y ago
  Downloading and Streaming are two different royalty models. Legally, you have to pay more expensive royalties if you download music (referred to as "right to reproduce") rather than stream (right to transmit), so a special type of downloaded file must be used that can't be exported in any way. This is what Apple are prohibiting.
- Nextgrid 8y ago
  See https://marco.org/2017/09/24/what-watch-podcast-apps-need https://marco.org/2017/09/24/what-watch-podcast-apps-need.
  - filleokus 8y ago
    Also see https://marco.org/2018/09/17/overcast5 https://marco.org/2018/09/17/overcast5 > That’s why I nearly jumped for joy during the watchOS 5 announcement in June, when Apple unveiled most of my list of watchOS changes needed to make good podcast apps. In my understanding, an Apple Watch Spotify app would surely be technically feasible as of watchOS 5 (but I might be in the wrong here, I haven't tried myself more than read the available API docs).
    - Nextgrid 8y ago
      Seems like there's still the issue of networking, and I guess if the accusations about the Spotify app rejections are true then I wouldn't be surprised if a Watch app that allows offline playback would get rejected.
      - filleokus 8y ago
        > Seems like there's still the issue of networking Yes, but I would guess that limitation is done for some "legitimate" technical reason. Streaming Apple Music on the watch just kills the battery life in my experience, and it seems pretty on par with Apple's M-O of limiting expensive hardware access to third parties (like multitasking back in the days). But who knows, could perhaps be out of some evil anti-spotify spite. > I wouldn't be surprised if a Watch app that allows offline playback would get rejected. Maybe, but Pandora seems to have done it without problem. https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/04/pandora-apple-watch-update/ https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/04/pandora-apple-watch-update/
- wowandflutter84 8y ago
  Pandora has an Apple Watch app which allows their music to be stored on the watch for offline playback.
wowandflutter84 8y ago
Pandora has an Apple Watch app with offline playback.

I don't see why other watchOS apps cannot store music on the watch itself. Don't apps get some local storage space? Why can't they use that?

g105b 8y ago
Downloading and Streaming are two different royalty models. Legally, you have to pay more expensive royalties if you download music (referred to as "right to reproduce") rather than stream (right to transmit), so a special type of downloaded file must be used that can't be exported in any way. This is what Apple are prohibiting.
Nextgrid 8y ago
See https://marco.org/2017/09/24/what-watch-podcast-apps-need https://marco.org/2017/09/24/what-watch-podcast-apps-need.
- filleokus 8y ago
  Also see https://marco.org/2018/09/17/overcast5 https://marco.org/2018/09/17/overcast5 > That’s why I nearly jumped for joy during the watchOS 5 announcement in June, when Apple unveiled most of my list of watchOS changes needed to make good podcast apps. In my understanding, an Apple Watch Spotify app would surely be technically feasible as of watchOS 5 (but I might be in the wrong here, I haven't tried myself more than read the available API docs).
  - Nextgrid 8y ago
    Seems like there's still the issue of networking, and I guess if the accusations about the Spotify app rejections are true then I wouldn't be surprised if a Watch app that allows offline playback would get rejected.
    - filleokus 8y ago
      > Seems like there's still the issue of networking Yes, but I would guess that limitation is done for some "legitimate" technical reason. Streaming Apple Music on the watch just kills the battery life in my experience, and it seems pretty on par with Apple's M-O of limiting expensive hardware access to third parties (like multitasking back in the days). But who knows, could perhaps be out of some evil anti-spotify spite. > I wouldn't be surprised if a Watch app that allows offline playback would get rejected. Maybe, but Pandora seems to have done it without problem. https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/04/pandora-apple-watch-update/ https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/04/pandora-apple-watch-update/
wowandflutter84 8y ago
Pandora has an Apple Watch app which allows their music to be stored on the watch for offline playback.

wowandflutter84 8y ago

Pandora has an Apple Watch app with offline playback.