Music sync is incredibly slow

[musicpenguy]

Really funny but only this advice from the top worked for me. I think only from the distance watch realises to go with WIFI

The watch actually won’t sync music tracks over WiFi - it will stream music as you play it and it may cache some of that

 

[mrex]

The watch actually won’t sync music tracks over WiFi - it will stream music as you play it and it may cache some of that

what?

 

[djbuddha]

The watch actually won’t sync music tracks over WiFi - it will stream music as you play it and it may cache some of that

Sorry that’s wrong. Please read up on the subject before providing “facts” (sorry if I come off b***hy- it just that claiming knowledge of something as fact without actual facts just annoys me is all).

Here’s the proof:

Turn off Bluetooth on the phone in settings (not the toggle).

Add an audio file to a playlist iTunes (not an iTunes or an Apple Music download- I do this with my radio mix shows all time)

Sync your phone (I’m like the last of people who still do this apparently)

Sync the playlist to your watch (it will warn you about no Bluetooth connectivity- ignore this). It will sync quicker than if Bluetooth is on (tested this repeatedly with many of the same sized files, this is really bad that this is the workaround btw as I said earlier in this thread).

Go to the gym and leave your phone in the car....... glove box ..... or even just leave it at home (I don’t have a carrier data plan yet for my watch).

The red missing phone icon will flash (I don’t use the gym’s wifi anyway) but I can play my whole list. Again, with Bluetooth disabled on my phone and while the phone is not in range even.

Therefore no Bluetooth and no steaming, it syncs over wifi.

And before anybody says it, I’ll save the trouble here: my custom radio shows I mix are not on Apple Music or iTunes so even if wifi or cellular data was on- where would it stream from if the phone wasn’t in range?

 

[musicpenguy]

Interesting - I have pretty extensive experience with how the watch works over Bluetooth versus WiFi and this is something I’ve never heard of being the case - I should say I’ve been living with LTE since Series 3 so I’m not doing as extensive tests as to when stuff syncs because I have access to my music regardless if it syncs or not.

Honest mistake - would love to hear other people’s testing of this.

Sorry that’s wrong. Please read up on the subject before providing “facts” (sorry if I come off b***hy- it just that claiming knowledge of something as fact without actual facts just annoys me is all).

Here’s the proof:

Turn off Bluetooth on the phone in settings (not the toggle).

Add an audio file to a playlist iTunes (not an iTunes or an Apple Music download- I do this with my radio mix shows all time)

Sync your phone (I’m like the last of people who still do this apparently)

Sync the playlist to your watch (it will warn you about no Bluetooth connectivity- ignore this). It will sync quicker than if Bluetooth is on (tested this repeatedly with many of the same sized files, this is really bad that this is the workaround btw as I said earlier in this thread).

Go to the gym and leave your phone in the car....... glove box ..... or even just leave it at home (I don’t have a carrier data plan yet for my watch).

The red missing phone icon will flash (I don’t use the gym’s wifi anyway) but I can play my whole list. Again, with Bluetooth disabled on my phone and while the phone is not in range even.

Therefore no Bluetooth and no steaming, it syncs over wifi.

And before anybody says it, I’ll save the trouble here: my custom radio shows I mix are not on Apple Music or iTunes so even if wifi or cellular data was on- where would it stream from if the phone wasn’t in range?

 

[imjoel]

I tried this and it really does work better, thank you!

Tried this also, looks like it is faster.

 

[igrover]

Tried this also, looks like it is faster.

Another way to sync music over wifi is to start the music sync the normal way via bluetooth and then turn off bluetooth while the sync is still happening. It will automatically switch over to wifi to finish the music sync. I have successfully completed music sync via this method.

 

[inkhorn]

Another way to sync music over wifi is to start the music sync the normal way via bluetooth and then turn off bluetooth while the sync is still happening.

This works for me too, it also works for downloading WatchOS updates !

 

[gorinp]

Chiming in here with my brand new 5 series AW... same problem.

I've tested it with a playlist of mixes and single files (both on my phone already).

Manually turning off bluetooth on the phone doesn't work. The watch doesn't use wifi to transfer files, it keeps forcing the BT connection. I'm really curious to know how this method is working for everyone else...

The only thing that kind of works is walking away with your phone while the watch is charging. At first the transfer seems to be going nowhere, but if you walk away and come back a few minutes later it's done. Making sure the watch isn't paired with anything else seems to help too.

Can't believe this is an issue... Why can't airdrop be used to do this?? It's way more efficient.