We are living in the era of online music streaming which requires a smartphone. But how can you listen to music without a smartphone? You can do it the old-school way, by getting another device to listen to the music without your phone. In this article you can find out which portable devices can play music. You will also find out which home devices can play it, and advice how to set it all up, and how can kids listen to the music without smartphone:

Take advantage of the streaming platforms

Lots of music platforms have the ability to stream songs offline. Biggest streaming platforms are Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music and Amazon Music. They all have music apps that don’t need the internet to listen to their music. That music is stored locally on your device for offline listening.

Many music platforms also support playing music on other devices that aren’t smartphones. Spotify, for example, supports downloading music or online streaming on devices like standalone music players, smartwatches and others. These devices will sometimes have the ability to directly stream from the music platform if the device can connect to the Internet. And they may also offer offline streaming too. You will probably require a computer to transfer music to a portable device.

Also, if you will be using these streaming platforms offline, or if you will be using them with non-smartphone devices, you may have to use a paid version of the streaming platform.

Check out in article How to listen to Spotify without smartphone to find out which non-smartphone portable devices can play Spotify offline.

Get another device that just streams music

You can still get a standalone music player that just plays music. They exist even though their popularity declined due to the appearance of the smartphone. Most players will play music stored locally on the player. You can transfer that music to the player from your computer. You do that via USB, or less common – Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Some music players can play songs from streaming platforms, but those are rare.

Use a smartwatch to listen to the music without phone

There are many smartwatches that support downloading music to the watch for offline listening. You may want to get a smartwatch to listen to music offline to curb smartphone usage. Or you may want to get a smartwatch to listen to music without a phone while running.

If you don’t own a smartphone, be careful when getting a new smartwatch. Some smartwatches need a smartphone to configure them and transfer music. But there are also smartwatches that support downloading music to the watch via the computer. If you want to live without the smartphone, you should look into smartwatches like these.

Many streaming platforms also support offline listening on the watch. You just have to transfer songs to it. You can check here about the smartwatches that Spotify supports for offline listening (after clicking the link, just choose the tab Smart watches).

Today, there is also an option to stream music online via smartwatch directly. Apple Watch GPS+Cellular is an example of such a smartwatch. This is the watch that has an internal eSim. eSim enables you to use the smartwatch to make calls, text and go online without an iPhone nearby (of course, you still need an iPhone for configuring the watch). Since the watch can connect online, you can also use it to directly stream music. The music doesn’t require downloading to the watch first. You also don’t need an iPhone nearby for streaming.

You can use a smart home device

You can get a smart home device like Alexa or a Google Home device. You can also link those devices to music streaming platforms like Spotify. Then you can interact with the device and tell it to play a certain song. This is very convenient if you have children. They can tell the device which song they want to play. But, before buying, you should always check whether a smart home device requires a smartphone to set up. Or whether it can be done via a computer too. This step is important for people who don’t want to own a smartphone.

You can listen to the music on the radio

You can listen to the music on the old-fashioned radio. The downside is that you can’t choose which songs to listen to.

You can play music on the TV, gaming console or computer

Lots of smart TVs can play music from YouTube or stream from a streaming platform. Also, you can stream the music from your computer. Many gaming consoles also have the ability to stream music, e.g. certain consoles from PlayStation, xBox or Nintendo.

How can kids listen to the music without a smartphone

Often parents want their kids to be able to listen to music. But they don’t want them to do it by using a smartphone. This is to reduce screen time and to control the content that the kids consume. Here is some advice on how kids can listen to the music without smartphone:

• Kids can listen to the radio.
• You can set up Alexa, and a kid can then tell Alexa to play music. You can also have a Spotify account on Alexa, and then a kid can tell Alexa to play music on Spotify.
• You can get an mp3 player that doesn’t have a screen, except for choosing which song to play. You can transfer some music on it. Then a child can use the mp3 player to play the music via speakers or headphones.
• You can get a Google Home device, so that a kid can interact with it and tell it to play music. You can also link Spotify or other music platform to that device.
• You can use an old smartphone or regular phone. Uninstall every app. Remove SIM so that it can’t connect to the Internet, and then put a streaming music app or a regular music app to play songs. If the phone is old enough, it may even be very slow and cumbersome to use. This increases the chances that it will be only used to play music.
• A kid can also have a cheaper smartwatch that can only play music stored in it.