Does Apple Watch Have a Speaker? [And, What to Do With It!]

We have all been there, you do not have your phone with you, and you need to listen to music, hear your notifications, and do other things. Perhaps, you have an Apple Watch that is paired to your iPhone and has cellular functionality. Finally, you may not have your AirPods. So, does the Apple Watch have a speaker?

Apple Watches do have a speaker as well as a microphone. You can not only listen to music and hear notifications, but you can also make calls if you have an Apple Watch cellular model. That said, it may be a struggle to hear from your Apple Watch or speak into it if you are in a crowded place.

You may wonder what you can do with the speaker on an Apple Watch. I want to answer as many questions as I can about it. Also, I want to give you two step-by-step guides on activating the speaker and the microphone. Let’s jump straight into it.

Do All Apple Watches Have A speaker?

It is important to remember that the Apple Watch was built to serve multiple purposes, and that includes the first iteration of the product. Those purposes include listening to notifications and receiving vital data while exercising.

Without a speaker and a microphone, it would not be possible for these functions to work. So yes, all Apple Watches have a built-in speaker and microphone. The Apple Watch uses a combination of sound and haptics to let you know when you have any notifications.

As great as the Apple Watch speaker and microphone are, as you will notice below, the speaker’s functionality can feel limited.

Can You Play Music Out Loud On Apple Watch?

The answer to this question is somewhat frustrating for many Apple Watch owners. On the surface of it all, it makes no sense that you cannot listen to music out loud n your watch via its speaker. Well, it is not so simple.

Apple is a brand, and if you could easily play music through the Watch, it might hurt the brand. Why though? Well, the speaker is not that great, and you could have a negative experience listening to music out loud.

Now, there is a slight twist to all of this. You can use the Apple Watch speaker to play music if you use it as a Bluetooth-connected speaker. The question is, do you really want to? If you have your iPhone with you, surely it would be easier to play music through that. Also, your overall experience should be better.

Can You Play Videos Out Loud On Apple Watch?

Playing videos on Apple Watch can be a tricky experience. There is no native support for YouTube; even if you use the browser, you will be told that you cannot play the video. There is also no proper file browser on the Apple Watch, so you cannot store your videos to watch later.

The only method that seems to work to play videos is to have those videos sent to you via text chat. Some people even start conversations with themselves just to have their videos on their watch when they need them. The experience is not great, so I recommend only doing this for essential videos.

If you are playing a video from your text messages window on your Apple Watch, you can hear the video through the speakers.

What Can You Do With The Apple Watch Speaker?

The Apple Watch speaker is quite versatile. As I mentioned, you can use a workaround to play music from it, but it is more for helping you with more important things:

• Receive notifications.
• Receive updates
• Listen to messages
• Listen to calls
• Some apps use the speaker

It may not seem like much, but it offers a world of convenience, especially for people who have a busy schedule.

What Can You Do With The Apple Watch Microphone?

In my experience, the microphone in an Apple Watch is just as important as the speaker. It allows you to do a wealth of things. It also works together with the speaker to deliver an experience that can sometimes leave you wondering if you can use the watch as a standalone device.

Here are a few things you can do with your Apple Watch microphone:

• Take down memos.
• Use Siri.
• Use voice-to-text.
• Talk on calls.
• Some apps use the microphone.

Again, it may not seem like much, but all of those features come in handy when you don’t have your phone to write down something important. Also, using Siri on your watch is an incredible feature that can save you time.

How To Activate The Apple Watch Speaker: 4 Easy Steps

Getting the Apple Watch speaker to work doesn’t actually involve activating it. Instead, you can toggle the sound on and off. You can also adjust the volume to suit your environment. Typically though, I leave it on the loudest volume. That said, here are my four easy steps to making sure your Apple Watch speaker is on:

1. Bring up the settings menu on the watch.
2. Swipe until you reach the “Sounds and Haptics” tab.
3. You can toggle the sound on or off by tapping the “Toggle Silent Mode” option.
4. To adjust the volume, simply tap the volume option in the same menu tab.

Apple Watch Microphone Not Working? Here’s What To Do

The microphone on Apple Watch works really well. The only problem most people experience is when the latest Apple software is not installed. So, be sure to keep your system up to date.

You can also restart the watch to see if that helps solve the problem, but it is unlikely that anything will change unless you update the software.

Is The Apple Watch Speaker Good?

The Apple Watch speaker does what it is intended to do. It does everything really well, but if you will not have the same experience you can get from listening to music or movies on your phone.

I prefer pairing my Apple Watch with my Airpods Pro. It delivers the best experience. While listening to music when on my Apple Watch, I typically turn haptics on, and that’s all I need to know when I’m getting notifications or when I need to look at my watch.