It looks like the latest Instagram update on your iPhone will make the on-the-wrist version disappear. Is it forever though?
It looks like the latest Instagram update on your iPhone will make the on-the-wrist version disappear. Is it forever though?
Yet another one bites the dust. The list of tech giants dropping their support for the Apple Watches is slowly growing, Instagram being the latest one. Amazon, Ebay, Google Maps were among those to drop their Apple Watch apps last year. Indefinitely? Not sure. However Apple sold more watches than the entire Swiss watch industry combined last year, over 8 million in the last quarter, so there's no shortage of users.
Therefore, some of the big players might find themselves wanting back in. Apple's latest requirements may be holding some developers back for the moment. Last November the company wrote, “Please note that starting April 1, 2018, updates to watchOS 1 apps will no longer be accepted. Updates must be native apps built with the watchOS 2 SDK or later. New watchOS apps should be built with the watchOS 4 SDK or later.”
For Instagram, which was running on an older version, this clearly isn't something they are interested in for the moment. Maybe not a huge surprise as the on-the-wrist version couldn't fully function in a way that would benefit the user. Videos wouldn't play, direct messages couldn't be delivered.
So, according to 9to5Mac, that has led to an Instagram update on the iPhone app to version 39.0 that'll remove the watch app after pairing.
In a statement to website iPhoneAddict the company said: "The Instagram app for Apple Watch will no longer be available as a stand-alone experience once users upgrade to Instagram version 39 on iOS, released April 2, 2018. We are committed to providing users with the best experience with their Apple products and we will continue to explore ways to achieve this on all platforms. Users with an Apple Watch will continue to enjoy a great Instagram experience through various rich and varied notifications. "
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