WatchOS 10 makes playing music on watch so much more tedious

Same problem here as of hockeybrian.

Is there any way to downgrade to watch OS 9 as I don’t see any advantage in OS 10 other than it became more cumbersome and complicated in controlling music downloaded to the watch?

unfortunately Apple developers have been always slow in taking any actions to fix issues like these as if they never do a mistake in any UI they develop

Watch OS10 makes everything more tedious. I used to like my watch. After the OS10 update, it was nothing more that than frustration personified on my wrist. It felt like a cheap knock off of itself. Now I don’t bother with it and won’t be purchasing another. Honestly, the OS UX across Apple devices gets worse with each update. It’s sad as the hardware is well engineered, but the OS is infuriating and it’s disenfranchising users while damaging the brand. It literally feels like the OS was redesigned by someone that never used an Apple product. How long does this continue until they realize that maybe it’s time to tap Craig Federighi out as OS lead. I have used Apple products for the entirety of my computing life. This is the first time I am seriously looking to move away from the brand entirely and it is 100% attributed to UX degradation.

I have the same problem plus an additional one - I manually manage my music on my iPhone from my Mac and I used to sync 2-3 playlists to my watch for work outs etc.

Now watchOS 10 shows every single song/playlist on my iPhone on the music app and not just the playlists stored locally! So when I’m about to go for a run I have to search through a ton of music which isn’t even really there to find the playlist stored locally!

the watchOS music app used to just only show music that was stored locally, or at the very least had an option where it said music on watch music on iPhone. This latest watchOS has been terrible, it’s basically bricked my s5 watch, everything is so slow is almost unusable… don’t even get me started on trying to use apple pay it takes an age for that to ever work!

The thing that blows my mind is that when I leave my phone behind and go for a walk with only the Apple Watch on me and no internet at all, I still play songs that was never downloaded on the watch. How can that even happen. Where these songs come from if they are only on my iPhone and my iPhone is not on me.

Thank you for posting this. I've been thinking I was alone in this experience and it's been driving me nuts. The only reason I download music directly to my watch is so that I can go phone-free on my runs, but the only way I've been able to play that downloaded music is to turn off my phone. I will give your workaround a try the next time I go out, but wholeheartedly agree that this new watchOS has made the simple act of playing music an absolute headache.

It's absolutely enraging. I was just in exactly the same scenario - wanted a quick run with music over bluetooth headphones and for some reason the watch insisted on playing from the phone, with no sign of an option to play from the actual watch

Come on Apple, there has been a real regression in usability with WatchOS 10, and this the worst yet. Of course I expect the Watch's music app to play music first and foremost on the headphones linked to the Watch, and I shouldn't have to go digging in the airplay options when it isn't even using airplay. WatchOS 10 is a lot prettier than WatchOS 9, but it's a lot less usable.

Same problem! With phone in locker at gym and music loaded onto watch and playing from watch, the watch jumps back to phone at random times and crackles due to do Bluetooth distance from phone. Kills the workout flow and vibe. Nearly fell off the treadmill trying to fix it. Stupid.

I hope those at Apple Are Paying Attention This update has me wanting to drop Apple Watch and Apple Music.

I enjoy using my watch with my teaching specifically the Bluetooth with my speaker for music. Apple Music. I have never had a problem with the Bluetooth dropping. Since the last update Bluetooth drops randomly often sometimes 3 times within 5 min. Also the music app does not pick up the speaker and instead plays music on my iPhone. Very annoying. Never did this before the update. So I now spend minutes going through screens and playlists until I get the choose an external speaker option. In the past when I choose it just started to play. Now I still have to go back and hit play again. I also used “now playing” which was very convenient. However now it is useless it shows Apple Watch and iPhone and neither box when touched goes anywhere. Very disappointed this last update making my watch not a great option for work now and will likely drop Apple Music as my paid music service as a result. If this doesn’t change Apple Watch will no longer be my choice.

That's not the only persistent issue with WatchOS. The schedule widget is now DOA and has been since IOS 17.0 The latest set of OS updates did nothing to remedy any of these issues and in fact lessened the utility, ease of use, and Apple's 'it just works' ethos. This applies to WatchOS, IOS, and MacOS. It is a shame as the hardware is well engineered. I have finally given up and am waiting for my current products to age out so I can purge myself of the entire ecosystem. Just can't afford nor have enough time in the day to work through all the OS issues and the dramatic downturn in productivity and usability that has come with the latest round. Hence, the only reliable fix I have found to any and all of these persistent OS issues is to move to alternative hardware and ecosystem after over 30 years with Apple.

This has to be the absolute worst implementation of Apple Music they’ve ever come up with - just tried to stop the music playing on my headphones so I could talk to smne at the gym, having finally convinced it to play out of them, & instead it starts playing a completely different track on my iPhone. Bluetooth and wireless were DISABLED in order to get my watch to play on my headphones so how can it even ‘talk’ to my phone? Never mind the question of why on earth would I want to control something in my pocket from my wrist - why why why? Block 2 hands to do something I am easily do with one? I want to play directly to headphones so I can hear the fitness tracker updates while running so why would it default back to the phone. So incredibly stupid

You described every problem I have with this new watch update. It is HORRIBLE and has lead to a lot of frustration.

I use my apple watch to play music on a bluetooth speaker in my classroom. I use a playlist with specific songs I need to play at a moments notice to help the students transition.

Before the update, I just had to turn on the bluetooth speaker, tap the music icon on my watch face, the playlist would appear that I left off at, and tap the song I wanted. The song would seamlessly play on the bluetooth speaker in a few seconds.

Now, I turn on the bluetooth speaker, click on the music icon, it always takes me to the "Listen Now" screen with songs I haven't played recently and don't want to play. To get to my playlist, I have to click multiple times, and when I press play, it auto plays on my iphone. So I click the three dots to pair with another device and every device shows up except my bluetooth speaker that is inches away. I go into my watch settings and connect the bluetooth speaker. I go back to my music app on the watch and try again. Still the music plays to my iphone. I now have to go into my iphone and tell it to play through the bluetooth speaker.

This has made my transitions so much longer!! The kids are staring at my while I'm fiddling with my watch and phone. It does this every time, multiple times a day. I already tried "forget this device" and unpaired and repaired the bluetooth speaker to both my watch and phone. If there is a solution out there, I need it.

This has been driving me nuts. I just found this thread. Has anyone found the fix other than going to Spotify or only using AirPods ? Also it annoys me that it doesn’t resume in the last playlist played. Now I only listen to the first 50-60 minutes of each playlist since that’s how long I usually workout.

Cly they have ignored our requests …. Moreover for me, after I power down the phone the watch will only play through right earbud….ive been a loyal Apple user since 80’s…., this is by far the most disappointing and head scratching situation I have ever seen

same problem. It’s gotten so much worse. I have to give myself more time before I run or workout because I know that I’m gonna have to go through 10 minutes of trying to configure my watch and my headphones. It will drive you nuts over time. Having to select play every time a song ends becomes annoying. Definitely switching to a garmin.

I have the same problem as stated above. You'd think that Apple has runners as part of their staff to test this functionality before it's released to the general public. Much to be desired from what's supposed to be quality ( and expensive) products. This just started happening to me, but I'm new to the apple watch. It appears to be going on for a while.