More and more companies are retiring their apps from the Apple Watch. Now Facebook is also discontinuing its Messenger app after eight years.
Facebook Messenger was one of the first apps available when the Apple Watch launched in 2015. But from June 1st it will be over, the company will discontinue the app without replacement.
Facebook Messenger is disappearing from the Apple Watch
Currently, users on social media are reporting a notification that indicates “Changes to Messenger on the Apple Watch”. After May 31, it should no longer be possible to reply to messages from the smartwatch. Apple Watch users will then only receive a notification when a message arrives via Facebook Messenger. Without the app, however, this only works as long as the Apple Watch is paired with the iPhone. If you leave the smartphone at home and use the smartwatch in 4G mode, the messages will no longer arrive at all.
Through the dedicated Facebook Messenger app for Apple Watch, it is possible to reply to messages in different ways. In addition to short text answers, reactions, stickers, emojis and GIFs were also possible. Even a dictation function and a handwriting function are integrated into the app.
TECHBOOK asked Meta whether and if so, when the change will also affect Germany. Once we get a response, we’ll update this article accordingly.
Apps for the Apple Watch are becoming less important
In recent years, more and more large companies have retired their dedicated apps from the Apple Watch. After a veritable boom in the early years of the smartwatch, enthusiasm for customized versions of larger apps has quickly waned. Prominent examples include Twitter and Tripadvisor, which discontinued their apps in 2017. Uber also ended support for the Apple Watch app last year without notice.
One reason for this could be that the small applications offer too little added value and users therefore tend to fall back on the full-fledged apps. According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, Apple wants to shift the focus from apps to new widgets with the upcoming watchOS 10. It’s set to be one of the biggest updates to the Apple Watch – with interactive widgets taking center stage. Instead of opening apps, users can then scroll through widgets, such as for fitness, weather and calendar. Apple is probably even considering changing the function of the Digital Crown so that pressing it leads directly to the widgets and not to the home screen with apps as before.
According to Gurman, that would be an admission that apps for the Apple Watch have not caught on: “The iPhone-like app format doesn’t always make sense on a watch—a place where you want as much information as possible with the least amount of searching .”