Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AirPods and Apple Watch
- Thread starter CoriG
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I have tried syncing a few playlists onto my watch... but I keep getting a sync pending message and it does not work.
They were made for eachother. I posted in another thread that I feel like a "bionic man" with both of them on... it's entirely effortless to listen to music, see and reply to texts, take phone calls, etc.
When you are listening to music on your iPhone through your AirPods bring up the "Now Playing" app on your Watch (should be in the Dock on your Watch... if it's not, you can add it from the Apple Watch App on your phone). That will let you control the music and use the digital crown to control the volume of your AirPods.
If you receive a call while your AirPods are in your ears and connected to your phone the Watch will show a little green "AirPod" icon instead of the normal "answer call" button. Pressing it will answer the call on your AirPods.
If you have Apple Music you can load one playlist worth of music directly on the Watch. I won't go through how to do that here... there are millions of tutorials online. However: as previously mentioned, the Watch does need to be docked to sync the music... AND be prepared to wait. It takes a REALLY long time. I recommend doing it before going to bed.
Once you have music on your Watch you can listen to it without your phone around. Swipe up on your Watch face to bring up the Control Panel... scroll to the bottom to find the "Airplay" button (looks like a wifi symbol with a triangle in it). Touch it and it will show you where the Watch can send music... your AirPods should be listed. Select them.
Then go to the Music app on your Watch. Scroll UP to see the "music source" selection. Make sure your Watch is selected... now you should be able to play music from the playlist you synced.
When you are listening to music on your iPhone through your AirPods bring up the "Now Playing" app on your Watch (should be in the Dock on your Watch... if it's not, you can add it from the Apple Watch App on your phone). That will let you control the music and use the digital crown to control the volume of your AirPods.
If you receive a call while your AirPods are in your ears and connected to your phone the Watch will show a little green "AirPod" icon instead of the normal "answer call" button. Pressing it will answer the call on your AirPods.
If you have Apple Music you can load one playlist worth of music directly on the Watch. I won't go through how to do that here... there are millions of tutorials online. However: as previously mentioned, the Watch does need to be docked to sync the music... AND be prepared to wait. It takes a REALLY long time. I recommend doing it before going to bed.
Once you have music on your Watch you can listen to it without your phone around. Swipe up on your Watch face to bring up the Control Panel... scroll to the bottom to find the "Airplay" button (looks like a wifi symbol with a triangle in it). Touch it and it will show you where the Watch can send music... your AirPods should be listed. Select them.
Then go to the Music app on your Watch. Scroll UP to see the "music source" selection. Make sure your Watch is selected... now you should be able to play music from the playlist you synced.
Thank you. But I have had my watch on the charger for the past hour and it still says sync pending
[doublepost=1482644820][/doublepost]
Thank you!
Also, the Airpods battery life are displayed independently on the Watch as well for reference.
simply love this combo
it's why the lack of volume controls doesn't bother me at all.
it's why the lack of volume controls doesn't bother me at all.
I'll be doing this.
I understand the limit on songs is about 250.
Good enough for what I want.
➰
Good point! I forgot that one.
Swipe up in the Watch face to get to the control panel. Touch the "battery remaining" button.
Along with showing the battery left on your Watch it will also show the battery left in each of your AirPods.
You can change limit from "songs" to "storage." Songs maxes out at 250 songs but storage maxed out at 2GB.
iPhone > watch app > music
If AirPods are the only BT speaker paired with your Apple Watch, it automatically plays to them (takes a couple seconds) when you select Apple Watch as the music source and click Play, regardless of which other device might have been connected to them (Mac, Apple TV, etc).
This is so much better than my other BT headphones.
This is so much better than my other BT headphones.
Can anyone knowledgeable about this stuff explain why my AppleWatch hardly ever shows the AirPods' battery level? I am getting sick of having to reboot my Apple Watch just to get this to work.
I wouldn't have the AirPods without the Apple Watch to control them. Siri? No way.
So I just tried this with the AirPods and my Apple Watch -
1. Placed iPhone in airplane mode.
2. Started playing a music playlist from the Apple Watch through the AirPods: Success
3. While the music is playing hold the watch up to my watch and say "Siri lower the volume".
4. Watch the words from the Siri request appear on the screen.
5. After a few seconds the music volume does indeed lower.
6. Notice the screen has not returned to the music player and the Siri graphic is visible along the bottom horizontal portion of the screen.
7. Screen is now locked with the Siri graphic visible on the bottom horizon.
8. I am able to double press the crown to return to the music player.
9. Notice that when I do return to the music player the volume returns to its previous higher level.
So it is possible to issue Siri commands on the Apple Watch when it is not connected to the iPhone. However the watch still has some issues transitioning between apps when using Siri. Although I randomly have this problem with the watch where I can sometimes use Siri for one command and then it does not work when I try a second command shortly afterwards.
Interesting.
OR - just realized that I did this test inside my home and maybe the watch was connected to my WiFI network even though it was not connected to the iPhone and this is what allowed Siri to work.
1. Placed iPhone in airplane mode.
2. Started playing a music playlist from the Apple Watch through the AirPods: Success
3. While the music is playing hold the watch up to my watch and say "Siri lower the volume".
4. Watch the words from the Siri request appear on the screen.
5. After a few seconds the music volume does indeed lower.
6. Notice the screen has not returned to the music player and the Siri graphic is visible along the bottom horizontal portion of the screen.
7. Screen is now locked with the Siri graphic visible on the bottom horizon.
8. I am able to double press the crown to return to the music player.
9. Notice that when I do return to the music player the volume returns to its previous higher level.
So it is possible to issue Siri commands on the Apple Watch when it is not connected to the iPhone. However the watch still has some issues transitioning between apps when using Siri. Although I randomly have this problem with the watch where I can sometimes use Siri for one command and then it does not work when I try a second command shortly afterwards.
Interesting.
OR - just realized that I did this test inside my home and maybe the watch was connected to my WiFI network even though it was not connected to the iPhone and this is what allowed Siri to work.
Last edited:
I've noticed it too, but I don't think it's worth rebooting the Watch for. However, they did come back whenever I'm using the Watch as the music source. Too soon to know if that's going to continue.