Looks like Spotify isn’t the only game in town. At least when it comes to standalone streaming apps for the Apple Watch.
Pandora has announced that its new Apple Watch app can now be used to listen to music and podcasts without an iPhone [Enjoy Your Favorite Music and Podcasts On The G2o with Pandora’s New Standalone App for Apple Watch – No Phone Required!]. That means you can go for a run, or swim, or bike ride, or workout at the gym and enjoy your favorite tracks all from just the Apple Watch on your wrist.
Per the Pandora blog:
In fact, you no longer need an iPhone at all to download our new app for Apple Watch and stream the best in music and podcasts from Pandora’s massive selection of top audio entertainment. Simply download it straight from the App Store on your Apple Watch, log in to your Pandora user account, and head out the door.
With the Pandora app you can easily do things on your Apple Watch without needing to pull out your iPhone including: play or pause, skip tracks, resume podcasts, adjust volume, thumbs up music.
Premium subscribers can do even more, such as search and play specific songs.
Offline usage is here as well and most welcome. If you find yourself outside of LTE or Wifi range, you reportedly still listen up to four of your favorite Pandora stations. Again, as the team at Pandora says, no iPhone required.
How to Download New Pandora App on Apple Watch
To download the new Pandora app straight from your Apple Watch just follow these simple steps:
- Open the App Store on your Apple Watch.
- Tap the Search bar.
- Select Dictation or Scribble.
- Say or write Pandora and tap Done.
- Tap Get to download the Pandora app.
- Confirm by double-clicking the side button.
- Follow the prompts to install the app.
Source: Pandora Blog
It will be interesting to see if Spotify follows suit, and finally provides something similar — currently the Spotify app still requires tethering to an iPhone. Users are not impressed. Perhaps this will add pressure to make some updates?
Meantime the new Pandora app for Apple Watch (standalone streaming requires Series 3 and above) is available now.