You can leave your iPhone at home and still listen to podcasts on a run, at the gym or on the dog walk. You need three things: episodes on the watch (or a connection to stream them), headphones paired with the watch, and an app that plays podcasts on the watch itself.
Here's how to set that up with Apple Podcasts, which is already on your watch, and with Outcast, the app we make. We'll also cover what a cellular watch changes, and how to get your headphones working.
What you need
- An Apple Watch. Any model with a recent version of watchOS will do. A cellular model adds streaming and downloads away from Wi-Fi, but it isn't required.
- Bluetooth headphones. AirPods, other Bluetooth earbuds, bone-conduction headphones or a Bluetooth speaker.
- Episodes, or a connection. Either download episodes before you leave, or have Wi-Fi or cellular so you can stream.
Option 1: Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts comes with your Apple Watch and is free. It's the right choice for a lot of people, especially if you already listen in Apple Podcasts on your iPhone.
It works mostly by syncing from your iPhone. You choose what goes onto the watch, and the watch downloads it in the background:
- On your iPhone, open the Watch app, go to My Watch, then Podcasts, and choose which episodes to add, such as your Up Next queue or saved episodes. On the watch, you can also open Settings, then Podcasts, to set how many episodes to keep.
- Give the watch time to sync. Apple's guide notes that some downloads only happen while the watch is on its charger, so the easiest habit is to set things up the night before and charge the watch near your phone.
- When you're out, open Podcasts on the watch and look in your library for downloaded episodes.
Away from your iPhone, Apple Podcasts can also stream over Wi-Fi or cellular. Without a connection, it plays only what's already been downloaded. Apple Podcasts can also play through the watch's own speaker on many models (not while charging, and not on Series 9), which is handy at home, though Apple warns that it uses battery quickly.
Where it's less convenient: the watch follows your iPhone library. If you think of an episode while you're out, or want to try a new show, you're relying on streaming, and syncing new downloads usually means waiting for the next charge.
Option 2: Outcast
Outcast is a podcast player made for the watch first. Everything happens on the watch, without your iPhone:
- Open Outcast on the watch and search by voice or Scribble, or browse top charts and genres.
- Subscribe to a podcast and pick an episode.
- Tap download, or choose to stream it. The episode comes straight to the watch over Wi-Fi or cellular.
- Press play and listen through your headphones. Add more episodes to the playlist and they play one after another.
There's a companion iPhone app for browsing on a bigger screen, adding a podcast by its feed URL and importing your subscriptions from another app as OPML, but you don't need it to listen.
Outcast is a paid app ($2.99, with no subscription). Unlike Apple Podcasts, it can't play through the watch's speaker, only through Bluetooth headphones or a speaker. It doesn't download new episodes automatically, either: you pick each one.
Other podcast apps, such as Pocket Casts and Spotify, have Apple Watch apps too. How much each can do without your iPhone varies, so it's worth checking whether an app downloads on the watch itself or syncs from the phone.
Wi-Fi or cellular: what changes
With a Wi-Fi-only watch, you can download and stream while the watch is on a Wi-Fi network it knows, such as your home network. Once you're out of range, it plays only what's downloaded. So download before you leave: a few episodes is plenty for most outings.
With a cellular watch and an active plan, you can stream and download anywhere you have coverage, so you don't have to plan ahead. A few things to know:
- Streaming and downloading over cellular use your plan's data. A typical podcast episode is tens of megabytes.
- They also use more battery than playing a downloaded episode. On a long run, download first.
- Both Apple Podcasts and Outcast have a setting to keep downloads off cellular if you'd rather save data.
Downloads are slow when your iPhone is nearby. While the watch is connected to your iPhone, it gets files through the phone over Bluetooth, which is much slower than Wi-Fi. To download faster at home, put your iPhone in Airplane Mode with Bluetooth off, so the watch uses Wi-Fi directly. Keep the watch screen on until the download finishes, then switch Airplane Mode off again.
Connecting AirPods and Bluetooth headphones
AirPods that are set up with your iPhone are already available on your watch, because they're shared through your Apple Account. There's nothing else to pair.
Other Bluetooth headphones need to be paired with the watch once:
- Put the headphones in pairing mode.
- On the watch, open Settings, then Bluetooth.
- Tap the headphones when they appear.
To switch where audio plays, open Control Center on the watch and tap the AirPlay button. Outcast and many other audio apps also show a list of headphones when you press play and none are connected.
If the headphones won't connect, check that they aren't still connected to your iPhone: turn Bluetooth off on the phone, or leave it at home. Then switch the headphones off and on again.
Headphone controls work too. On AirPods, a double press usually skips forward and a triple press skips back, and both apps let you set how far a skip goes.
A checklist for leaving your phone at home
- Download a few episodes over Wi-Fi before you go, even on a cellular watch.
- Make sure your headphones are charged and paired with the watch.
- Start the episode before you set off, so you know the headphones are connected.
- Charge the watch: audio over Bluetooth, especially with a workout running, uses more battery than a normal day.
Which should you use?
If you already use Apple Podcasts on your iPhone and you're happy to set up downloads the night before, it's free and it works well. If you want to find, download and play podcasts on the watch itself, whenever you think of them and wherever you are, that's what we built Outcast to do.
Search, download and play podcasts on your Apple Watch, with no iPhone needed. $2.99, no subscription.
