Uber gives up on its Apple Watch app
If you're used to hailing Uber rides from your Apple Watch, we've got some bad news: you cannot do that anymore.
Uber appears to have silently discontinued its Apple Watch app, which allowed users to quickly request rides, as well as access info such as your driver's vehicle information, estimated time of arrival, and your ride's real time location.
According to Apple Insider, launching the app will merely yield the following message (in limited English): "Please switch to the Uber mobile app. We no longer supporting the Apple Watch app. Sorry for the inconvenience," followed by a crying emoji.
Oddly, the app is still available for download, Uber's help page still mentions it as if it were functional, and there's even a little blurb on Apple's App Store, explaining how convenient the app is.
Notably, this change only affects folks who actually installed and used the Uber app on Apple Watch. Hailing a ride from your iPhone should still yield notifications on your Apple Watch as before.
I've never used the Uber app for Apple Watch; not only is it easier to hail a ride from my phone, but the Watch app missed certain features such as Uber Pool, Split Fare, Share My ETA, and Contact Driver. Judging by the effort Uber put into that farewell message, most users probably felt the same.
Engadget notes that the company also discontinued its WearOS app back in 2019. As for Uber's competitor Lyft, the company discontinued its Apple Watch app even earlier, in 2018.
We've asked the company whether this is truly the end of the road for its Apple Watch app, and will update this article accordingly.
Topics Uber
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
