How to customize music on Xiaomi smart watches: the complete guide

Modern wearables have long since ceased to be just pedometers, becoming full-fledged multimedia devices that can control your playlist. Owners of smart watches from the Xiaomi brand and sub-brands like Amazfit often face the need to separate the smartphone from the hand during a run or workout. Setting up music on the wrist allows you not only to control playback, but also in some models to store tracks directly in the memory of the device.

The process of integrating music services with the Mi Wear or Zepp ecosystem can be confusing due to the differences in operating system versions and interfaces. However, by understanding the basic principles of Bluetooth protocols and the way background applications work, you can easily organize the perfect soundtrack for your sports activities. In this article, we will discuss in detail all the available ways to control audio streaming.

Note that the functionality depends on the specific model of your device. flagship line Xiaomi Watch offers advanced features, including built-in speaker and support. SIM-So, the Mi Band series of fitness bracelets work primarily as remote controls.

Technical limitations and capabilities of different models

Before you start syncing, you need to be clear about what your gadget is capable of. Not all devices can play sound on their own. Most budget and mid-range models, including the popular Mi Band 6/7/8 and Amazfit Bip, do not have a built-in speaker and do not support the transfer of audio over Bluetooth directly to the headset.

In such cases, the watch acts solely as a Remote Control, which transmits commands (Play, Pause, Next, Prev) to a paired smartphone that already transcribes sound, meaning that the phone must always be within Bluetooth range (usually up to 10 meters).

More advanced models, such as the Xiaomi Watch S1, Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro or Amazfit GTR/GTS Series 4, have their own Bluetooth Audio module. This allows you to connect wireless headphones directly to the watch, completely free of the phone. Only models with the Wear OS operating system or proprietary OS with support for BT Audio can stream music without a phone.

• 🎧 Remote mode: Track management on the phone (available to almost all models).
• 📡 Streaming mode: sound transfer from the clock to headphones (only for top models).
• 💾 Built-in memory: storage MP3-files inside the watch (a rare function, depends on the software).

It is also important to remember the Bluetooth version. For stable audio transfer, Bluetooth 5.0 and higher is required to provide sufficient bandwidth and low power consumption. Older versions of the protocol can cause delays or connection breaks when trying to play.

Preparation of the smartphone and installation of the necessary applications

The foundation of the right multimedia is the correct work of the binder software. For Xiaomi and Amazfit devices, different companion applications are used in different regions. Global versions of the watch most often require the installation of Zepp (formerly Mi Fit), while new models on Wear OS are controlled through Xiaomi Wear or Google Pixel Watch.

Make sure your smartphone has all the necessary permissions installed. Android and iOS operating systems strictly control access to media files and Bluetooth. Without providing permissions to access storage and background work, the application will not be able to transfer track metadata to the watch screen.

Often users forget that music players must also have permission to work in the background. If the system "kills" the process Spotify or Yandex.Music to save charge, control from the clock will disappear.

• 📲 Zepp: The main app for most fitness trackers and Amazfit watches.
• ⌚ Xiaomi Wear: Required for the new Watch models S1 Active, Watch 2 and analogues.
• 🎵 Streaming services: Spotify, Apple Music, Yandex.Music should be updated.

Also check for updates for the companion app itself. Developers often release patches that fix metadata synchronization bugs (song titles and album covers) that may not show correctly on the watch display.

Music management setting (Remote mode)

This is the most common use case. You don't have to do complicated manipulations to set up control. It's enough that the watch is paired with a smartphone and any audio player is running on the phone. The control interface usually appears automatically or is called by a swipe in the widget menu.

If the interface doesn't appear, check the settings in the Zepp or Xiaomi Wear app. In the Profile -> My Devices -> Application settings, the Music Control option must be activated. In some firmwares, this switch may be called Music Control or Music Control.

The interface on the watch screen is usually minimalistic: track switching buttons, pauses and volume sliders (if the model supports adjusting the system volume of the phone).

⚠️ Warning: If the buttons on the watch stop responding, try restarting Bluetooth on your smartphone. Sometimes the background process "hangs" and stops sending commands.

For iOS users, the process may be different due to system limitations: The watch can only manage the standard Music app or require the streaming service app to be opened on the lock screen.

Direct Bluetooth headphone connection to the clock

Owners of advanced Xiaomi Watch models can appreciate the freedom from the phone, so your Bluetooth headphones must go into pairing mode and your watch must find them, a process similar to connecting your headphones to your phone, but it is done through the watch interface.

Go to the watch menu, find the Settings section, and select Bluetooth. Search for your devices. When your headphones appear on the list, click on them to pair. Once you successfully connect, the sound from any of the apps on the watch (dictophone, music, video) will go through the headphones.

It's important to understand that when you connect your headphones to your watch, your phone may try to redirect the audio stream to your watch, even if you didn't plan to. To avoid conflict, you can turn off the Media Audio profile for your watch in your Bluetooth settings, leaving only Call Audio or completely disabling media communication if you only use it as a remote in other situations.

💡

When you connect your headphones to your watch, the battery drains faster. For long-term workouts, take a power bank or turn off constant heart rate monitoring.

Using an offline player and synchronizing tracks

Some watches allow music files (usually MP3) to be downloaded directly into the device’s internal memory, ideal for running without a phone, but this is not always possible with standard tools.

To download files, you often need to use third-party slits or special features in a companion app. For example, the Notify & Fitness for Mi Band app (for Android) has the option to upload audio files to the bracelet memory if the firmware allows. In the case of Wear OS, you can use the Wear Transfer app or sync through Google Play Music (if the service is supported in the region).

The process is usually this: you copy files to a folder on your phone, the companion app detects changes and suggests syncing them with the clock. The Bluetooth speed is slow, so it can take 10-15 minutes to download the album.

Remember the memory limits, even if the specs say 4GB, some of it is occupied by the system, and usually there is about 2-2.5GB of music left, which can hold about 400-500 tracks in good quality.

Solving synchronization and sound problems

Despite the simplicity of the technology, users often face problems, the most common being the de-synchronization of track titles, the clock displays "Unknown Track" or old names, treated with a complete clearing of the Zepp app cache or reinstalling access rights.

Another problem is spontaneous control shutdown, often due to aggressive energy savings on Xiaomi smartphones (MIUI/HyperOS), which can kill the background process of a music application, lock the application in memory and remove background restrictions.

⚠️ Warning: Do not try to use third-party launchers on your watch unless you are sure they are compatible with audio protocols.This can lead to the complete disappearance of the music widget.

If the sound in the headphones connected to the watch is interrupted or of poor quality, check the Bluetooth codec. In the engineering menu or the developer settings on the watch (if available), you can try to change the priority of the codecs, but most often the problem lies in the interference of the radio signal.

💡

The stability of the music controller is 90% dependent on the settings of energy saving smartphone, not the watch itself.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)