Apple Watch: Some Apps Ditch Cupertino Company’s Flagship Smartwatch
The Apple Watch may be the hottest smartwatch on the market. But some companies are taking their apps off the smartwatch. According to Engadget, Slack is just the latest to make an exit.
“Like Twitter, Amazon, and Google Maps before it, Slack is ditching its Apple Watch app. The team chat and collaboration platform for businesses quietly announced the news via an update to its iOS app. But, that doesn’t mean Slack will disappear entirely from your wrist.”
The article adds that one can still respond to incoming messages on the Apple Watch due to notifications. However, one will not be able to view unread messages. Many think that this isn’t such a big deal because the Apple Watch works best with notifications from apps, not the actual apps themselves, which many consider not useful.
Many of the commenters on a similar article from Mac Rumors also won’t miss Slack or other apps that have been abandoned.
“Watch apps never made sense to me. What you want are rich third party complications and rich notifications,” says Sputnikv.
“Makes sense. Watch (third party) apps are mostly pointless still to this day. I have 15 installed on my watch and regularly use 0 of them,” claims JohnApples.
Meanwhile, developers (or people who can easily download it on several sites) can now get watchOS 4.3 Beta right now. According to Forbes, the update is a significant one. The new Music app might have previously removed the ability to control iPhone music from the Watch, but the new app has a new “On iPhone” section that lets you access your playlists, albums, songs, etc. There is also a feature that allows you to use AirPlay to connect to your iPhone to AirPlay speakers, all controlled from your watch.
There is also an updated Nightstand feature that allows you to use the Watch in portrait orientation when the device is charging. According to Mac Rumors, the new update also adds data from your Activity app to the Siri watch face – this enables you to see your progress without needing to open the Activity app.
Many have given praise to the new update on social meda, which should be available to the general public by the end of March. Then again, sites such as Twitter are constantly full of praise for the Apple Watch, especially the Series 3.
I love my Apple Watch! The heart rate tracker is a very important reason why I purchased series 3
— Thomas Fuller (@ThomasFuller9) January 20, 2018
@Apple My Apple Watch Series 3 is amazing. Yesterday I got 13 notifications about my Heart Rate was elevated. Went to the ER & it really was so I was treated. Thanks Apple!!!
— Shanitra “Nikole” (@peaceparadisetl) February 1, 2018
The Apple Watch Series 4, which is likely to be released during the second half of 2018, could actually save lives. According to TechRadar, Apple is in the process of developing a new wearable that features EKG technology to detect heart abnormalities. At the rate that Apple has been improving each new watch, we’ll hopefully get the Dick Tracy fantasy watch soon, and we’ll be able to video chat with people from our own wrists.
