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I think it’s more that the Apple Watch doesn’t support Spotify than the other way around. Apple prioritizes its own music service for the watch.

by bthrn 6y ago

madeofpalk 6y ago
Apple made an Apple Music app for the watch with support for offline playback. Spotify did not. I believe for a year or so the Watch OS has supported the APIs Spotify would need to do offline playback, but they have not yet used them for whatever reason.
- csunbird 6y ago
  This was a controversial topic actually, Spotify openly accused Apple for not providing the access to Apple Watch SDKs when Apple Music was first launched. The APIs are made available after a while I think, but Spotify is still mad. Spotifys accusation: https://timetoplayfair.com/the-case/ https://timetoplayfair.com/the-case/ Response from Apple: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/03/addressing-spotifys-claims/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/03/addressing-spotifys-c... HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19377322 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19377322
DangerousPie 6y ago
Other 3rd party apps can sync content for offline playback (eg. Overcast for podcasts) so I don't think there's any technical reason Spotify are not supporting it.
- madeofpalk 6y ago
  Does Overcast still support sync/offline playback from Apple Watch? I know it's been a bumpy feature that Marco has had trouble supporting due to API limitations and lack of demand/usage.
  - DangerousPie 6y ago
    Yup. There was a version a few months ago that broke things but that got fixed after a few weeks. I'm surprised to hear about the lack of usage though - Apple Watch support is the only reason I'm using Overcast.
tchalla 6y ago
> I think it’s more that the Apple Watch doesn’t support Spotify than the other way around. Since, watchOS 6 - that's pretty much not true https://9to5mac.com/2020/04/29/pandora-shows-spotify-how-to-make-a-proper-apple-watch-app/ https://9to5mac.com/2020/04/29/pandora-shows-spotify-how-to-... https://9to5mac.com/2019/06/09/watchos-6-spotify/ https://9to5mac.com/2019/06/09/watchos-6-spotify/

I think it’s more that the Apple Watch doesn’t support Spotify than the other way around. Apple prioritizes its own music service for the watch.

by bthrn 6y ago

I think it’s more that the Apple Watch doesn’t support Spotify than the other way around. Apple prioritizes its own music service for the watch.

madeofpalk 6y ago

Apple made an Apple Music app for the watch with support for offline playback. Spotify did not. I believe for a year or so the Watch OS has supported the APIs Spotify would need to do offline playback, but they have not yet used them for whatever reason.

csunbird 6y ago
This was a controversial topic actually, Spotify openly accused Apple for not providing the access to Apple Watch SDKs when Apple Music was first launched. The APIs are made available after a while I think, but Spotify is still mad. Spotifys accusation: https://timetoplayfair.com/the-case/ https://timetoplayfair.com/the-case/ Response from Apple: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/03/addressing-spotifys-claims/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/03/addressing-spotifys-c... HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19377322 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19377322

DangerousPie 6y ago

Other 3rd party apps can sync content for offline playback (eg. Overcast for podcasts) so I don't think there's any technical reason Spotify are not supporting it.

madeofpalk 6y ago
Does Overcast still support sync/offline playback from Apple Watch? I know it's been a bumpy feature that Marco has had trouble supporting due to API limitations and lack of demand/usage.
- DangerousPie 6y ago
  Yup. There was a version a few months ago that broke things but that got fixed after a few weeks. I'm surprised to hear about the lack of usage though - Apple Watch support is the only reason I'm using Overcast.

tchalla 6y ago

> I think it’s more that the Apple Watch doesn’t support Spotify than the other way around. Since, watchOS 6 - that's pretty much not true https://9to5mac.com/2020/04/29/pandora-shows-spotify-how-to-make-a-proper-apple-watch-app/ https://9to5mac.com/2020/04/29/pandora-shows-spotify-how-to-... https://9to5mac.com/2019/06/09/watchos-6-spotify/ https://9to5mac.com/2019/06/09/watchos-6-spotify/