Garmin Watches get a great free music upgrade

There's a new source for your workout soundtracks in the Connect IQ Store

Garmin Forerunner 965 review
(Image credit: Matt Kollat/T3)
Quick Summary

Garmin now offers a native YouTube Music app across multiple smartwatches.

It can be downloaded from the Connect IQ Store now, with a wider rollout set to follow soon.

Garmin users just got a great music upgrade: the YouTube Music app is now available in the Connect IQ Store for compatible smartwatches.

That means you can add YouTube Music playlists and podcasts to your watch and stream them to your running headphones as you work out or just commute to work.

The app is free to download, and its companion phone app is available for iOS and Android. However, the Garmin app only currently works with a selection of Garmin watches, as some models don't connect to the Connect IQ Store. You can find a list of compatible devices below.

The good news is that if your Garmin product isn't listed, Garmin promises that more will be supported soon. And it looks like it'll be worth waiting for: so far, it's proving popular and garnering positive reviews.

It looks very similar to the Wear OS version of the app and expands Garmin users' musical choices: apps for Amazon Music, Deezer and Spotify are already available.

Garmin YouTube Music

(Image credit: Garmin)

What Garmin devices can run the YouTube Music app?

According to Garmin, the full list of devices that can currently run the YouTube Music app is:

  • D2 Mach 1 Pro
  • Enduro 2
  • Enduro 2
  • Epix (Gen 2)
  • Epix (Gen 2), Quatix 7 – Sapphire Edition
  • Epix Pro (42mm)
  • Epix Pro (42mm)
  • Epix Pro (47mm)
  • Epix Pro (47mm), Quatix 7 Pro
  • Epix Pro (51mm)
  • Epix Pro (51mm)
  • Fēnix 7
  • Fēnix 7, Quatix 7
  • Fēnix 7 Pro
  • Fēnix 7 Pro, Fēnix® 7 Pro – Solar Edition
  • Fēnix 7 Pro – Sapphire Solar Edition
  • Forerunner 255 Music
  • Forerunner 255 Music
  • Forerunner 255S Music
  • Forerunner 255S Music
  • Forerunner 265
  • Forerunner 265
  • Forerunner 265S
  • Forerunner 265S
  • Forerunner 955
  • Forerunner 955, Forerunner® 955 Solar
  • Forerunner 965
  • Forerunner 965
  • Mercedes-Benz Venu 2
  • Mercedes-Benz Venu 2
  • Mercedes-Benz Venu 2S
  • Mercedes-Benz Venu 2S
  • Venu 2
  • Venu 2
  • Venu 2 Plus
  • Venu 2 Plus
  • Venu 2S
  • Venu 2S
  • Venu 3
  • Venu 3
  • Venu 3S
  • Venu 3S
     

More models will be added soon.

Carrie Marshall

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).