Wear OS 5.1 could let you play music on your built-in Android watch speakers

Google is testing out media playback straight from Android smartwatches’ built-in speakers in Wear OS 5.1, according to Android developer release notes spotted by Mishaal Rahman. That’s in addition to adding support for credential managers in the coming update, which Google revealed is based on Android 15. (Wear OS 5, which rolled out earlier this month, is based on Android 14.)

Watch speaker playback will work for “devices that support media playback through the watch speaker,” Google writes, adding that users can pick the built-in speaker for apps that include the capability. It’s not clear which devices that would mean.

Android smartwatches only play media over Bluetooth right now — something that was true of all Apple Watches until the Series 10 and Ultra 2. Pixel watch owners will have to wait a bit to get the capability, as Google said earlier this month that the next Pixel Watch software update is coming in March next year, as noted by 9to5Google.

If you could swear you’ve listened to podcasts or music through your Pixel Watch in the past, you may not be wrong. Users in the Pixel Watch subreddit claim they were able to do it two years ago. That seemed to be a bug that was later patched, which some were a little miffed about, and you know what? I get it. I don’t exactly pine for music from tinny smartwatch speakers, but I’d love to have the option to listen to podcasts from my wrist when I can’t find my headphones.