Feature description:
A user, with the Wear OS app, should be able to choose their paired phone as a playback device. The playback would be carried out by the phone, not by the watch. During playback, the watch would be able to carry out any media controls in the same fashion as the Wear OS app during watch/phoneless playback.
Problem solved:
Being able to better control media playback with your watch, without needing to play music on the watch. I already extensively use the Wear OS Media Controls app to control playback on my phone for playlists I have initiated on my phone, but ideally I should also be able to search my library and initiate phone playback from my watch as well.
Brought benefits:
Wear OS watches are generally better remotes than playback devices. Long-running tasks on a watch like audio playback via bluetooth will drain the already quite mediocre battery on Wear OS devices. Off-loading playback onto the phone gives you the convenience of the watch interface, without the drawbacks of watch audio playback. Also, in certain situations, people don’t want to take their phones out unless absolutely necessary, so being able to initiate phone playback via Wear OS would give them the ability to play music on their phone (presumably via bluetooth headphones) without having to take their phone out. The current generation of smartwatches shine when a user can seamlessly interact with their phone without needing to take it out of their pocket.
I am a software engineer so I totally understand how this might be easier said than done – especially where I’m quite ignorant of how Watch/Phone interactions are mediated. But I do think this is the kind of use case that best plays to the strengths of the current capabilities of Wear OS smartwatches with a limited amount of battery life.
Other application solutions:
The Spotify Wear OS app allows you to choose “Your Phone” as a playback device when playing music. This approach meets all this use case’s requirements.
Additional description and context:
Screenshots / Mockup: