Update: Another one bites the dust: Twitter is the latest big name app to withdraw it’s dedicated Apple Watch app, with the latest version for iPhone removing its Apple Watch twin without asking. Previously, the small-screen app would let you look at tweets, examine what was trending and dictate your latest 140-character bon mot via voice-to-text.
In a statement to CNET, the company explained that most customers just want Twitter notifications to their wrist, rather than full app features – and these are provided by WatchOS anyway. “We heard from people that notifications were the most helpful part of the Apple Watch Twitter experience. With this, we are focusing on supporting more robust, media-rich notifications,” the company explained. “We are committed to providing the very best Twitter experience on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Apple Watch, and we’ll continue to iterate and improve our apps across all platforms.”
Hmmm. That sounds more like a company trying to save development costs on little-used features, rather than a company looking to provide “the very best Twitter experience”, but that’s a perfectly reasonable position to take. With Twitter joining eBay, Google Maps and Amazon in wavering support for dedicated watch apps, perhaps this is just a sign that some things are best left to the big(ger) screen?
The original news piece from May continues below
When the Apple Watch launched, one of its most promising features was its app support. The App Store, after all, had been a key factor in the iPhone becoming all-conquering, and there was a real chance of kickstarting a wearable revolution with the same trick.
When the Apple Watch launched, one of its most promising features was its app support. The App Store, after all, had been a key factor in the iPhone becoming all-conquering, and there was a real chance of kickstarting a wearable revolution with the same trick.
Well, maybe not. While the Apple Watch is still the most popular wearable around, it’s a small pond that isn’t growing much. Worse still, it appears that a number of high-profile apps are withdrawing their support. Apple Insider has spotted a number of apps – including Google Maps, Amazon and eBay – that have quietly withdrawn support for the Apple Watch.
While Google has said that the company “expects to support it again in the future”, for now the Maps feature that sends directions straight to the wrist has been removed without explanation in the release notes. Amazon and eBay both removed Apple Watch support from their respective iOS apps in April, too.
While I imagine nobody will cry over the loss of Amazon wrist shopping, missing notifications when you’re outbid on eBay could prove a touch more infuriating. American retailer Target, Apple Insider notes, has also removed Apple Watch support, although its standalone Cartwheel app continues to support the wearable.
What does all this mean? Well, the most likely explanation is that nobody is using the features, making it a bit pointless to waste time and resources supporting them through each Apple Watch and iOS update.
It’s important to note that this in no way means the Apple Watch is an unappealing product – just that the original use case Apple envisaged wasn’t matched by real-world behaviour. As I wrote when discussing Facebook and VR, regular people almost always use technology in a way that’s more basic than innovators would like.
Reluctantly, it seems that the app creators are paring back their ambitions to match how people use their services in the real world, where technology is just a means to an end, rather than the universal answer to everything.
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