How to Download Apple Music to Garmin Forerunner Watch [2023 Updated]

"I've subscribed to Apple Music for a long time and liked to download the songs for offline listening. Recently I've bought a Garmin Forerunner watch. Can I put Apple Music on my Garmin Watch? Any response is much appreciated!" - Booty from Apple Discussion

The phone is something that shall be left behind in your home when you are running or working out. A smartwatch is enough to meet most of our needs including listening to music from Spotify or Apple Music. Can you put Apple Music on a Garmin Watch? No worries! In this post, we're going to introduce an efficient workaround to help you stream Apple Music to Garmin Forerunner for listening freely.

Part 1. Is Apple Music Supported by Garmin Forerunner Watch?

Forerunner Music series is one of the most popular Garmin smartwatches. You can get a hint from the name of what they for. "Forerunner", for runner. And Garmin put "Music" behind the name to tell you that Forerunner Music Series is designed with great music supports.

Similar to other music services such as Spotify or Amazon Music, Apple Music is popular subscription-based service for listeners. However, while both Spotify and Amazon Music are supported on Garmin Music watches, at the moment the much-requested Apple Music is still not available to be synced with the Connect app to the devices.

Fortunately, there're some workarounds can transfer your favorite Apple Music to your Garmin watch, as long as you've already purchased them from the iTunes Store. Garmin watches that feature a music player support several common media file types, such as Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) files, which is sold by iTunes Store. When you purchase a selection of music in the iTunes Store, you can sync your watch with your iTunes library using Garmin Express on your computer.

However, the downloaded Apple Music songs won't be able to synced to your watch. Since the downloaded Apple Music songs are encoded with DRM (Digital Rights Management), which restricts the use of them on Apple Music app on authorized devices only. If you want or need to bring your iTunes library together with your Apple Music collection, you have to use a third-party software tool called ViWizard Audio Converter to remove the DRM designation from the protected Apple Music. From here you can learn how to download Apple Music to audio files in compatible formats, and then sync them to your Garmin watch.

Part 2. How to Sync iTunes Purchases with Garmin Forerunner Watch

Forerunner Music Series allows you to transfer music from your computer and then queue up your favorite playlist for easy listening through true wireless earbuds or Bluetooth headphones. Forerunner 245 and Forerunner 645 both can store more than 500 songs, which means that you can easily access the 500 songs offline. And the storage for Forerunner 945 even reaches 1,000 songs.

Step 1. Purchase Apple Music from iTunes Store [Optional]

If your watch supports the selling AAC audio files from iTunes Store, you can go there to buy what you want to play on your watch.

1. On your Windows or mac, open the iTunes desktop app.

2. Choose Music from the pop-up menu, then click Store in the navigation bar.

3. Go to the song or album you want to play on your watch.

4. Click the price next to the song or album to buy it.

5. Sign in with your Apple ID and password to complete the purchase.

6. After you buy music, you can find it in your music library. Now the purchased item can be downloaded to your Garmin watch.

Step 2. Set up iTunes to Share with Garmin Express

Additionally, when using iTunes to sync your own music collection to your watch, it is also necessary to configure iTunes to share the iTunes library XML with other applications, such as Garmin Express.

1. On your Windows or Mac, open the iTunes desktop app.

2. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced, then check the box "Share iTunes Library XML with other applications".

3. Set the iTunes Media folder location to C:Users/*YOURUSERNAME*Music/iTunes.

4. Select OK to save your changes.

Step 3. Set up Garmin Express with Computer Devices

Now with a selection of iTunes purchases in your iTunes library, you can set up Garmin Express with your computer and Garmin Forerunner watch.

1. Use a USB cable to connect your Garmin Forerunner watch to your computer that runs the iTunes app. At this time, you should make sure your device has some battery charge.

2. Go to www.garmin.com/express by using a compatible web browser like Google Chrome, Moziila Firefox or Microsoft Edge and download the Garmin Express for your Windows PC or Mac.

3. Install the Garmin Express software to your computer.

4. Open the Garmin Express software, and click on Add a Device.

5. If you connect the Garmin Forerunner to your computer successfully, Garmin Express will recognize it. Click Add Device next to your device.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions to add the device to Garmin Express.

Step 4. Sync iTunes Purchases with Garmin Music Watches

You can now sync your iTunes purchases or compatible audio files you upload to iTunes with your Garmin Forerunner watch.

1. Make sure you connect your watch to the computer and open Garmin Express software.

2. Select your watch.

3. Select Music > iTunes > OK.

4. Select an audio file category, such as songs or playlists.

5. Select the checkboxes for the audio files, and select Send to Device.

6. Once your iTunes library is synced with your watch, you can select Music > the Refresh icon next to iTunes Library to refresh it.

Part 3. How to Play Synced Apple Music on Garmin Forerunner Watch

With a selection of synced Apple Music songs or episodes on your Garmin Forerunner Watch, you can now listen to them with the Music widgets.

Listen to iTunes Music Library on Garmin Forerunner Watch

1. Hold Down from any screen to open the music controls.

2. Connect your headphones with Bluetooth pairing.

3. Hold Up.

4. Select Music Providers, then select My Music or iTunes Library, which stored the Apple Music downloaded to the watch from your computer.

5. Select the vertical 3 dots icon to open the music playback controls.

Part 4. How to Make Apple Music Compatible with Garmin Forerunner Watch

As stated the downloaded Apple Music songs, playlists, audiobooks and podcasts won't be able to sync with your watch unless you purchase them and get the unprotected AAC audio files from the iTunes Store. But if you use ViWizard Audio Converter, you don't have to break the bank but download and convert Apple Music to any compatible audio formats with your watch.

	Audio Formats:
Apple Music:	DRM protected
Garmin supports:	.aac, .adts, .m3u, .m3u8, .m4a, .m4b, .mp3, .pls, .wav, .wpl, .zpl
Garmin Forerunner supports:	.mp3, .m4a
ViWizard output supports:	.mp3, .m4a, .m4b, .wav, .aac, .flac

With ViWizard Audio Converter, you can convert a selection of Apple Music tracks to audio files in formats like MP3, M4A, M4B and AAC that are compatible with Garmin's media player. Additionally, ViWizard Audio Converter will preserve the lossless audio quality and full ID3 tags with the downloaded audio files. This way, your Apple Music songs or episodes will not be affected to be displayed with alpha-numeric and your Garmin watch will display the exact audio content.

In addition to Apple Music songs, iTunes files, iTunes podcasts, iTunes audiobooks and even Audible audiobooks you synced with iTunes are supported to be downloaded and converted by using ViWizard Audio Converter. After that, you upload them to your iTunes library and sync them with Garmin Express effortlessly, ensuring your access to your Apple Music on your watch.

Download Apple Music to Audio Files in Formats Compatible with Garmin Watch

Now Take a look at the video or steps below! And you can learn how to download Apple Music on Garmin Watch by using ViWizard Audio Converter for listening while running.

Step 1 Add Apple Music to ViWizard

First, please download and install ViWizard Audio Converter from the above link. Open this Apple Music to Garmin converter. There are two buttons to import audios, one for Apple Music song, iTunes audiobooks, and Audible audiobooks. Another one is for local audios. To add Apple music, please click the Load iTunes Library button. Before importing them to ViWizard, please download the songs you wish to convert and authorize iTunes to play them on your computer.

Step 2 Customize Audio Output Format

The Format panel is at the bottom left of this converter. Open it and you can select the output format as well as other parameters for your files in the pop-up window. MP3 is the recommended output format. If you want to keep the song short or make some changes, you can cut it before the conversion. The Edit icon at the end of each column of the audio track enables you to do some editing and add some special effects to your audios. When you are all set, please click on OK to save the changes on settings.

Step 3 Convert Apple Music to Garmin Forerunner Watch

Simply hit on Convert button at the bottom right and wait for a few seconds. When the conversion process is done, the converted files will be saved locally and can be found in the Converted History folder.

Step 4 Upload Apple Music Audio Files to iTunes

Now you have the ability to upload these downloaded Apple Music audio files to iTunes. Ensure that your Apple Music audio files are in one of the following formats: MP3, AIFF, WAV, MPEG-4, AAC (unprotected) and you're ready to go.

Upload Audio Files to iTunes Library

1. On your Windows or Mac, open the iTunes desktop app.

2. Select File > Add File/Folder to Library.

3. Navigate your computer to find and locate any files or folders you want to upload to iTunes. Select a selection of files or folders, then Open to add them to iTunes.

4. Once uploaded, the audio content will show up under Recently Added and Downloaded tab as iTunes files that are allowed to sync with your Garmin watch.

Now you can sync your iTunes library with these iTunes files with your Garmin watch in Part 2.

Summary

Now, you really can play Apple Music on Garmin Smartwatch and leave your phone behind when you head out for a run because the Apple Music that keeps you moving is right there on your wrist. If you like this tip, please share ViWizard Audio Converter with your friends for better enjoying Apple Music songs.