When it comes to music, we all have our favorite artists, genres, and songs. And along with those, we have favorite apps for listening to those tunes we love.
If you’re an Apple Watch wearer, then keeping music apps on your wrist lets you listen on-the-go, control tunes on your iPhone, Mac, or PC, and identify songs you hear with a tap.
Not sure where to start? Here are the five best music apps for your Apple Watch, in no particular order.
The best Apple Watch music apps
Apple Music
Of course, the Music app that comes with your Apple devices is a terrific option. Connect earbuds to listen and discover something new on your Apple Watch. Or take control of what you play on your iPhone with playback options for play, pause, shuffle, and repeat in Now Playing.
With the Music app, you can enjoy your playlists, mark songs you love, add tunes to your library, and so much more.
The Music app is built right into your device making it a smart and convenient choice.
- Availability: iPhone, iPad, iMessage, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac, and Android
- Cost: Free with an option to subscribe to Apple Music
Pandora
Pandora lets you create stations, hear the top hits, check out podcasts, and control it all from your Apple Watch to your iPhone. With a tap, you can switch between your favorite stations and gives songs a thumbs up or down.
With Pandora on iPhone, you can browse by genre, recently played, mood or activity, listen to up and coming artists, use Siri shortcuts, and link to Alexa.
For an awesome music discovery app, check out Pandora for Apple Watch in addition to your other devices.
- Availability: iPhone, iPad, iMessage, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Android, CarPlay, and the web
- Cost: Free with an option to subscribe and remove the ads, receive unlimited skips, make and share playlists, and more
Spotify
Spotify is another excellent music player and discovery app. Like Pandora, Spotify offers both music and podcasts so you can choose by mood. Pick something from your library or recently played list and control it from your Apple Watch to you other devices.
With Spotify, you can share your favorite playlists, hear mixes made for you, and listen to something different based on your recent history.
For a wide variety of music and podcast options and cross-platform availability, Spotify is a winning app for all your devices.
- Availability: iPhone, iPad, iMessage, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac, Android, Windows, and the web
- Cost: Free with an option to subscribe and remove the ads, receive unlimited skips, enjoy offline listening, and more
Shazam
Shazam is a true favorite when it comes to music apps for your devices. You can tap to Shazam a song that’s playing to identify it. And when you do it on Apple Watch, you can grab a song you like from Apple Music on your iPhone or have that song automatically added to a playlist in the Music app.
With Shazam, you can also discover something new, scan Shazam codes you see in advertising, and connect to Apple Music, Spotify, and Snapchat.
For music identification and discovery, Shazam is a must-have app for your Apple Watch.
- Availability: iPhone, iPad, iMessage, Apple Watch, Mac, and Android
- Cost: Free
SoundHound
SoundHound is similar to Shazam and is another great option for identifying and discovering tunes. Tap on your Apple Watch to have the app listen to the song that’s playing and display the title and artist. Head to the app on your iPhone and sing along with the lyrics.
With SoundHound, you can save your favorites, find new tunes and artists and connect to Apple Music and Spotify.
If you’re looking for an alternative to Shazam, SoundHound is a solid choice.
- Availability: iPhone, iPad, iMessage, Apple Watch, Mac, and Android
- Cost: Free with an in-app purchase to remove the ads
Wrapping it up
Whether you concentrate on just one or all five of these apps, you’ll never be at loss for great music at your fingertips or on your wrist.
Do you have a favorite music app for Apple Watch that you’d like to share? Feel free to leave your recommendations and the standout features in the comments below!
And be sure to check out our other Apple Watch app lists while you’re here!