Lyft Removes its Apple Watch App From the App Store [Updated]

by

Lyft is the latest company to ditch support for the Apple Watch, eliminating its Apple Watch app in an update that was released this morning.

Lyft did not announce the removal of the Apple Watch app in the update's notes, but the Lyft Apple Watch app is no longer listed in the App Store nor is it available as an app to install through the Watch app on the iPhone. There's also no longer a mention of the Apple Watch in the App Store description.

lyftapplewatchapp
It is not clear why the Lyft app was removed from the App Store, and we've asked Lyft for comment, but this continues a trend where major companies are removing their Apple Watch apps due to low usage or Apple's requirement that all apps adopt the watchOS 4 SDK.

As of April, all Apple Watch app updates submitted to the App Store must use the watchOS 2 SDK or later. Apple Watch apps that use the watchOS 1 SDK are no longer able to be updated. Lyft has been updated several times since April, though, so it's not clear if the requirement is the reason why the app was removed. Lyft first introduced support for the Apple Watch in September of 2016.

Lyft joins several other major companies that have abandoned development for the Apple Watch and eliminated their watchOS apps, including Twitter, Google Maps, Amazon, Instagram, and eBay.

Update: Lyft provided the following statement to MacRumors on the removal of the Apple Watch app: "The latest Lyft update on iOS will no longer support a standalone Lyft app for Apple Watch. Lyft users will continue to have a great experience receiving notifications on their Apple Watch to easily follow their ride."

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 11
Tag: Lyft
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Friday February 20, 2026 3:21 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone this year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that Apple will release its first foldable device in 2026. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that have been leaked about ...
Read Full Article • 95 comments
Apple Announces Special Event in New York Feature 1

Apple Reportedly Plans to Unveil at Least Five New Products Next Week

Sunday February 22, 2026 9:48 am PST by
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple will have a three-day stretch of product announcements from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4. In total, he expects Apple to introduce "at least five products." A week ago, Apple invited selected journalists and content creators to an "Apple Experience" in New York, London, and Shanghai on Wednesday, March 4 at 9...
Read Full Article • 116 comments
Apple Watch 15 Tips Every Owner Needs to Know Feature

Apple Watch: 15 Tips Every Owner Needs to Know

Thursday February 19, 2026 7:38 am PST by
Apple Watch is now eleven generations in, and packed with useful features that are easy to miss at first glance. To help you get more out of your new device, we've rounded up 15 practical tips you might not have discovered yet, including a few that long-time users often overlook. Bounce Between Two Apps On your Apple Watch, double-press the Digital Crown to see a deck of all currently...
Read Full Article • 34 comments
Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature Pink

Three Upcoming Apple Products Seemingly Spotted in macOS 26.3 Code

Friday February 20, 2026 7:36 am PST by
macOS 26.3 hints at Apple's rumored lower-cost MacBook, and two new Studio Display models, according to Macworld's Filipe Espósito. Espósito found the following codenames within macOS 26.3's source code, and he revealed the upcoming products that they likely correspond with, based on previous reporting from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and others. The codenames:J700: Lower-cost MacBook J427:...
Read Full Article • 87 comments
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

10 Reasons to Wait for Apple's iPhone 18 Pro

Wednesday February 18, 2026 5:12 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Read Full Article • 95 comments

Top Rated Comments

oneMadRssn Avatar
oneMadRssn
101 months ago
Apple really needs to make WatchOS development more attractive. Opening up watch-faces to developers, and making complications more robust, would go a long way I think.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
chelsel
101 months ago
Just two weeks ago I used my Apple Watch w/ LTE to order an Uber after my phone died... it worked great.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
subjonas
101 months ago
That’s too bad. I don’t have an Apple Watch but it seems like a ride hailing app would be one of the more useful watch apps. I’d think it would be convenient to be able to monitor your ride’s distance from you with a glance at your wrist.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
midkay Avatar
midkay
101 months ago
Just two weeks ago I used my Apple Watch w/ LTE to order an Uber after my phone died... it worked great.
I think the watch now having LTE is making an important use case for these apps. When watch apps were dependent on a phone's presence, I could see the argument that they were essentially pointless. Now that the watch works as a standalone device, these kind of apps are actually very important.

I'm hoping WatchOS 5 brings many new APIs and enhancements that entice devs to continue developing for the Watch.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JRobinsonJr Avatar
JRobinsonJr
101 months ago
PERSONAL USE CASE ONLY:

While the trend to remove watch apps is potentially disturbing, there is - in my opinion - a greater reality to the situation. A small screen on your wrist can be useful for many things, but the Watch just hasn't decided what to do when it grows up. Exercise apps? Yes! Music? Sure. Tracking time? Of course! But... shopping? Ordering a pizza? Tracking a package? Reading social posts? No... No... No... and No! This is just a market correction. That said, Lyft and Uber (and other ride-hailing services) do seem like a much better fit. Not sure if it's a great fit, but definitely in the grey area.
[doublepost=1527626669][/doublepost]
Still missing eBay, I was using it sigh
Just curious. I never tried the eBay watch app. What, specifically, did it offer beyond notifications? Alternatively, what can you not do now that you could before?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ipedro Avatar
ipedro
101 months ago
Agree!

I used an AW for two years daily, and about a year ago switched to a Gear S3. While the AW had many more apps available, what I found in the end was that most of that apps didn't really change my life since I had my phone with me anyway and the phone was a better experience. Like in the case of this one... if you are hailing a Lyft or Uber, you want to see the map, and monitor the arrival Often you also need to possibly determine where the best place is to be picked up if you are at an airport. None of this is going to be easy on a watch. So even though the AW works with Uber, I never once tried to call an Uber from my watch.

In fact, most of what I used my AW for, that was really having an impact on my daily life, was the apps that came on it. And when I moved to the Gear S3, I found those apps gave me a better experience than AW. So though I miss the bigger inventory of apps for the cool factor, I don't miss them for any impact on my daily life. I don't really see the value in an AW app for Lyft or Uber personally.
Actually, car sharing is probably one of the better uses for a wrist app. "Hey Siri, get me an Uber" ... then a notification pops up on your wrist as the car approaches, giving you the license plate and car model. That's the kind of information that works well on the wrist, rather than having to pull out your phone and look for the identifying info to find the car. Just look at your wrist and the info is right there.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments