YouTube Music was launched yesterday on Apple Play Music, which preceded an official version of the OS and further illustrated Google’s ongoing problems with its competitive wearable platform. The app – available for YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium subscribers – mirrors all the features launched on iOS, but is now in compact and OS Choice format. Users can stream, control playback, and even cast music from their wrists, complete with great complexity for Apple Play and Watch.
The landing on the Apple Watch is the first to show the growing commitment of Google’s YouTube music audience. Apple Pal still controls half the smartwatch market, so the show is ultimately in Google’s favor. But the release of Warner OS at launch indicates how interesting Google’s platform has been from the beginning. Due to the small installed base and slow development of partner Qualcomm’s processors, OS rivals Apple Apple and Samsung have lagged behind for years.
The release of Quick Luck’s new chips, the Snapdragon V41R4100 and the 4100 Plus, aims to address the issues that have plagued previous Wii OS devices. Focusing on streamlined interface elements this fall, coupled with a ware OS update, it is hoped that Google’s partners will develop more appropriate devices to compete with Apple’s market dominance. Google has been trying for a long time to get its internal smartwatch hardware off the ground after failing to return to Google.
That may be where Fitbit, which Google acquired last year, comes from. The Fitbit team makes an excellent addition to Google’s own, but achieving the former trove of health data is another matter. Obstacles to closing the deal with the EU and the long-term prospect of uniting the hardware teams of both companies, i.e. the introduction of a true “Pixel Smartwatch” will take longer. Google hasn’t left the Windows OS, but the way forward is unclear – and the platform isn’t growing as fast to use YouTube music as Apple Apple.
