Messenger is ending support for the Apple Watch. (Image: meta)
If you use the Messenger app on your Apple Watch, here’s some unpleasant news for you: Meta—Facebook’s parent company—is shutting down the Messenger app for the Apple Watch.
If you use the Messenger app on your Apple Watch, here’s some unpleasant news for you: Meta—Facebook’s parent company—is shutting down the Messenger app for the Apple Watch.
According to TechCrunch, Apple Watch users with the Messenger app pre-installed are receiving notifications that the app will no longer be available on Apple Watches after May 31. Although users will continue to receive notifications for Messenger, they will have to reply to messages from their iPhone.
Speaking to TechCrunch, a Meta spokesperson said, “People can still receive Messenger notifications on their Apple Watch when paired, but starting June they will no longer be able to respond from their watch.”
He said Meta wants to make messages end-to-end encrypted on web, desktop and other platforms like the iPhone so that users can continue to use the app there.
The end of support for the Messenger app on the Apple Watch will prove inconvenient for the plethora of users who swear by using the app on their wrists, as the app works standalone — without the need to be connected to an iPhone.
Odour @meta Disappointed #messanger app is closing #apple watch It was a very simple thing. Notifications are useless on the GSM model watch which is not needed by the phone. — Pete Miller (@millerpete) May 11, 2023
Meta will join a growing list of popular services that have ditched their respective apps on the Apple Watch, including Uber, Twitter and Slack.
However, the company is bringing native support for WearOS along with its other messaging app WhatsApp and soon, Android users can expect to reply to WhatsApp messages directly from their wrists.
