If you’re a Pandora user and Apple Watch wearer, then you know that you’ve been able to control your Pandora music on iPhone from your wrist. But recently the company announced a standalone app for Apple Watch. Yay!
This definitely takes your music to the next level. Before, you could only control the music playing on your iPhone with your Watch. Now, you listen to songs from Pandora on your Watch without your iPhone.
This is a terrific improvement for the music service and to make sure you make the most of it, we’ll give you the scoop on the features. Here’s what you get with the standalone Pandora app on Apple Watch.
The new main screen for Pandora on Apple Watch gives you Now Playing (when applicable), Stations, and Podcasts along with a handy Search box.
Any stations or podcasts that you enjoy regularly should each be in their respective sections. Just tap Stations or Podcasts and tap to play the one you want.
Pandora main screen and stations
You’ll see the song or episode controls on the screen as they were before if you tap Now Playing. You can play, pause, replay, skip, like, and dislike. If you tap the name of the song, you’ll see the duration, and if you tap again, you’ll see the Station it belongs to. You can also control the volume with the Digital Crown.
Pandora Now Playing controls
To find something specific, tap the Search box on the main screen. You can then use scribble or dictation to enter the search term. When you see your results, just tap the one you want.
Pandora Search and results
If you want to sign out of Pandora on the Watch, use Force Touch and then tap Sign Out. Confirm by tapping Sign Out once more.
Sign out of Pandora
Troubleshooting Pandora on Apple Watch
Having trouble getting Pandora to play on your Apple Watch?
First, make sure that your Bluetooth earbuds are paired, connected, and ready to go. You cannot listen to Pandora on Apple Watch without them.
Next, make sure that you’ve updated to the latest version of Pandora. If you’re seeing the new features on the Watch app but still cannot listen on your wrist and the song play screen shows “Playing on iPhone,” try restarting your Apple Watch.
Pandora playing on iPhone on Apple Watch
If it’s still not working, you can remove Pandora from your Watch and reinstall it:
Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
Scroll down to Pandora and turn off the toggle for Show App on Apple Watch.
Go back to the app list in the Watch app and tap Install next to Pandora.
You’ll have to log back into Pandora on your Watch, but once you do, you should be able to start listening from your wrist.
If you’re still having problems, you can visit the Pandora Help site on this topic for more troubleshooting options.
On a personal note, I’ve noticed that if I open Pandora on my iPhone for any reason, the music will switch over and play on my iPhone only and instead. I’m not able to get it to play on my Watch again unless I go through the process above to uninstall and reinstall the app. Hopefully this is a bug that the company will address. Let us know if you run into the same trouble in the comments below!
Will You Pandora on Your Wrist?
Whether you’re having a trouble-free experience or the same type of problem I am, we want to hear from you! What are your thoughts on Pandora’s standalone Apple Watch app?
Sandy worked for many years in the IT industry as a project manager, department manager, and PMO Lead. She then decided to follow her dream and now writes about technology full-time. Sandy holds a Bachelors of Science in Information Technology.
She loves technology– specifically – terrific games and apps for iOS, software that makes your life easier, and productivity tools that you can use every day, in both work and home environments.
Her articles have regularly been featured at MakeUseOf, iDownloadBlog and many other leading tech publications.
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