Google Play Music will retire in October, but if you use the app on a Google smartwatch, the shutdown starts this month.
“In the next couple of weeks, users will no longer be able to use or download Google Play Music on their Wear OS by Google smartwatches,” Google announced quietly in a support document.
Google is shutting down Google Play Music to invest in YouTube Music, which the company has been encouraging Google Play Music members to check out. For users on an Android smartphone, the transition is pretty easy; it requires only a few steps via music.youtube.com/transfer.
Unfortunately for avid Google smartwatch users, there’s currently no YouTube Music app support for Wear OS. “We’re working to bring the best of the YouTube Music experience to Wear OS as soon as possible and will share more info as soon as it is ready,” a Google spokesperson told PCMag.
The company’s temporary solution is to tell Wear OS owners to carry their smartphones with them. “In the meantime, you can use your Wear OS smartwatch to remotely control the YouTube Music app on your Android or iOS phone,” Google’s support document says. “When you play music from YouTube Music on your phone, controls will automatically appear on your watch.”
Naturally, some smartwatch owners are upset the company didn’t come up with a proper replacement in time for the transition. As a result, affected users will have to explore third-party music-streaming services for Wear OS, like Spotify or Amazon Music.
