Major apps abandoning Apple Watch, including Google Maps, Amazon & eBay [u]

13»

Comments

  • Reply 41 of 59
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Like the first iPhone the Watch concept is ahead of the possible technology.    In a few years we will see holographic displays on the watch taking care of thesis issue.
    Soli
  • Reply 42 of 59
    kamiltonkamilton Posts: 282member
    So, what I'm experiencing and what this thread seems to confirm is that the Apple Watch is revealing itself as a space that won't be polluted with a bunch of unnecessary apps and data gathering.  That's not a fail!  That's a fascinating development and perhaps a natural line in the sand.  Could it be?
    Solicali
  • Reply 43 of 59
    I talked to a guy with Apple Watch in the pool.  He said he and his wife returned Watch 1, but kept Watch 2, and it is very accurate in keeping track of his swimming.  I'm definitely looking forward to Watch 3.
    cali
  • Reply 44 of 59
    macplusplusmacplusplus Posts: 2,112member
    It seems like Apple was/is stuck around this app paradigm. Everything is about apps. Tim Cook said this about TV. That the future of TV was apps. Outside of content "apps" like HBO and Netflix I hardly ever use apps on my TV. The same with Watch. I can't remember the last time I used a 3rd party app. The future of every new product isn't always apps.
    There are many useful Watch applications for fitness and health as well as many great AppleTV games. Both products are correct because they figured out correctly what applications can be built for these.
  • Reply 45 of 59
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    eBay is an interesting one to remove given how valuable it'd be to know if an auction was about to end, but then we still have a phone to know. AW is going to be for personal fitness, health, fashion, key replacement, payments, and always on-you Siri for HomeKit going forward. And less about third party apps, in the way iPhone is.
  • Reply 46 of 59
    I got my watch a couple of weeks ago; for the apps I use it's working out great. It's just a matter of figuring out which apps and business uses are suitable for a watch or not. If developers are not seeing an uptake of their app it's probably a design fault or their model does not work on the platform. I'd rather see a small number of high quality apps where all the developers make a ton of money for getting it right, rather than a whole pile of garbage apps.
  • Reply 47 of 59
    bluefire1bluefire1 Posts: 1,301member
    Just keep my weather apps, email app, news app and health apps and I'm fine with letting many of the other apps disappear.
  • Reply 48 of 59
    Burgh HeizenBurgh Heizen Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    I find many 3rd party watch apps to be a bit gimmicky. Like sleep apps - who WANTS to sleep with their watch on? Especially when most watch owners charge overnight? Water drinking apps? Well, how far is anyone from their phone during the day that they need their watch to remind them to drink water? I agree with a previous poster, keep your watch lean and clean, exploit the built in capabilities - health and reminders of things happening on your phone, maybe play with the faces, but all these other things are best left on the phone, in my humble opinion.
    ireland
  • Reply 49 of 59
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    I find many 3rd party watch apps to be a bit gimmicky. Like sleep apps - who WANTS to sleep with their watch on? Especially when most watch owners charge overnight?
    I really don't like to have a watch on when I sleep but others don't mind it. Plus, you can charge your Watch for the day (possibly even 2 days of use) by putting it on the charger when you take a shower and get ready in the morning. It doesn't take long to charge the device since it has such a small battery.
    netmage
  • Reply 50 of 59
    EsquireCatsEsquireCats Posts: 1,268member
    It's not surprising for the Watch to not feature certain applications and for some of those apps to be discontinued over time. This of course isn't any indication of the watch platform's success, more a realisation by developers that their apps are unpopular and without utility.

    I think many developers are realising that their applications don't make sense on a small-screened device and that they lack the creativity, know how, or self control to build an app that does. This would involve giving up on the scattergun approach that they've been able to get away with in the past and actually distilling the utility of their application/platform into an easily consumed, time-sensitive experience.

    It's not surprising that the most popular uses of the watch are ones that are complementary to the wearer's lifestyle - apps that remove the need to check apps/websites, minimise the time they need to check on their phone or provide added context to the person's life. (e.g. alerting the wearer to weather changes, public transport etc.)
  • Reply 51 of 59
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 878member
    Safari crashed and didn't let me finish my comment :))) 

    long story short: let other developers abandon watch apps to let apple know that their product is too slow and mostly useless. 
    Completely false -- not having/needing Amazon on my watch UI doesnt make the the device "useless". there are plenty of use cases the AW is great for, and why we get value out of ours and i see them on people every single day.
    It's funny your comment made me realize something:  The watch CHIP should have been the W1 and the AirPods CHIP should have been the S1 doh... just saying W=Watch S=Sound? wierd...
  • Reply 52 of 59
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    There is definitely value in some 3rd party apps, but it isn't going to be like the iPhone.  On my Watch, I have my primary airline app, sports scores, Uber, and a golf app (shows distance to the hole).  It is ones like the latter that I really like - adds clear value to the activity.  The Watch is all about:
    - notifications
    - little bits of information when you need it, visible at a short glance (from maps, to activities)
    - interacting with your body
    - identity & payments

    Apps will continue to develop around these core use cases.

    As for Google Maps dropping support - that is a head scratcher.  I rely on my AW for navigation all the time now.  Even in the car when driving, I use the taptic feedback as much as the voice.  I interpret that as continual decline of Google Maps usage on iOS devices.
  • Reply 53 of 59
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 878member
    dewme said:
    nhughes said:
    slurpy said:
    Not every fucking app benefits from being on a watch. I'm seeing more and more Apple Watches out in the wild, so even though this headline is trying to imply that the product and platform is dying, I very much doubt thats the case. Firstly, the implementation and utility of some of these apps are shit, so the fact that they're barely getting any use wouldn't be surprising. Secondly, there's a good chance many of these apps will be pulled then relaunched with a re-imagined concept.
    Definitely was not trying to imply that the platform is dying. Just reporting on a trend.
    Not sure what the total App numbers are for the Apple Watch, but I'd imagine greater than 10,000 since the closest number I could find was 8500 in 2015. So when does 3/10,000ths of something constitute a trend? If one of your AI article gets 3/10,000ths more hits than another one, which is a mere 0.03% micro-tick, would you go running to your boss to demand a raise? Give it a try... ;-)

    The Apple Watch is the leading player in what is, in reality, a rather immature technology lifecycle. I'd fully expect that Apple will go through plenty of gyrations trying to figure out exactly how best to exploit the platform to make it as indispensable as the iPhone is without simply making it a miniature iPhone. Apple's friends, enemies, and frenenemies are a few steps behind but they have obviously been dipping their toes in the Apple Watch platform and market to see whether there's anything in it for them longer term, and to learn more about the problem domain itself. Like any emerging technology and market there will be a lot of churn before the trend-worthy paths take it to majority adoption, and potentially, later stages of maturity. I still see Apple Watch as being in the Early Adoption phase of the lifecycle and wearables as a whole as being in the Innovators phase of the adoption lifecycle. It's too early to tell, but Apple is trying to lead, and others like Amazon and Google are happy to follow as long as they aren't taking any big risks.

    Amazon, Google, and eBay all have their own ecosystems to support and are in competition with Apple on a number of fronts that apply to wearable devices like Apple Watch. I fully expect to see each of those firms make much greater pushes into application and service areas the Apple Watch seems to serve pretty well, like notifications, payments, identity, presence, messaging, health, and some aspects of next generation augmented reality related capabilities, e.g., non-visual human sensory augmentation. For example, wearing an Apple Watch could allow you to smell/detect substances that are otherwise non-detectable by humans such as carbon monoxide, radiation, pure natural gas, etc. 



       
    Yeah you know what else is something similar?  The fact that the watch is on it's 2nd year going on it's 3rd.  The idea being here if the hyper-trend continues it'll be at least 5 years before we know what's up.  The computer took 20 years before people finally adopted it in their everyday lives, businesses included.  The cell phone and smart phone each took a rough 10 years to make it a 100% staple for everyone to need one, and the watch at a minimum will take probably 5 years to sink in, and glasses maybe 2.5... heck the TV took about 40 years to kick in fully with the VCR and the radio about 80 (maybe just 40) years to MAX OUT... I see a hyper-trend here...  just spewing out numbers :open_mouth: 
  • Reply 54 of 59
    sflocal said:
    With the exception of Ebay's bid-notification, these apps don't have a real place on a watch.  The UI just isn't intuitive enough.  They won't be missed.  

    Seriously, Amazon on a watch?  Like I really want to do online shopping on a tiny screen like that?

    I'm waiting for Apple / 3rd party medical device integration via the wristband.  That will really make the product take off.

    I can imagine amazon on the watch would be useful if you are shopping and want to quickly check the price of an item on amazon, ask siri and it shows you on watch... but since apple watch uses a connected nearby iPhone - you could always just check on your phone and do a LOT more at the same time. So until such time the watch can be used on it's lonesome, standalone apps are a bit moot.
  • Reply 55 of 59
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    The update reminded me of something I forgot to mention,
    I'm betting these companies pulling Watch apps at the same time is just a coincidence. They're most likely improving them and as the Watch continues to sell there's no way these companies will miss out on the opportunity.

    in the future I see the most useless apps having a Watch companion. 
  • Reply 56 of 59
    backdoorsurprisebackdoorsurprise Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    I bought the Watch Series 1 on Day 1 and been wearing it everyday.  There are three things I use it for in order of importance: 1) Time and calendar, 2) Motion tracking, and 3) notifications.  I never use the apps.  Basically, it's too cumbersome - launching still takes forever (even after WatchOS 3 improvements) and the limited UI is not every useful.  The concept of apps on the Watch sound great in theory, but they are not really useable. 
    netmage
  • Reply 57 of 59
    crawdad62crawdad62 Posts: 99member
    Just this past week OutCast starting supporting native Podcasts on Apple Watch. Fantastic! I can't believe Apple hasn't added something so basic (and beneficial) to their own podcast app. Getting Podcasts on the Apple Watch shouldn't be so convoluted. And not everyone wants to carry their iPhone when they're running. So on some fronts development is still moving forward.
  • Reply 58 of 59
    makeintoshmakeintosh Posts: 65member
    We can speculate about reasons why watch support was pulled but I wonder if it is because the expected value simply has not materialized.  It is costly support apps and so if they are not returning value, support will drop.  It's business sense.  I personally own at least one of every Apple device that exists except the round Mac Pro and the watch.  My wrists became clear with the iPhone 3G and I still don't see a compelling reason any watch, let alone the Apple Watch.  Adoption rates for the watch are increasing but they're probably not yet at levels for Amazon, Google and eBay to justify supporting them.  As Google said...perhaps in the future?
  • Reply 59 of 59
    sflocal said:
    I'm waiting for Apple / 3rd party medical device integration via the wristband.  That will really make the product take off.


    Not gonna happen. Yanks are litigious hypochondriacs.
Sign In or Register to comment.