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 10
Tag: Lyft
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Popular Stories

iphone 16 display

iPhone 17's Scratch Resistant Anti-Reflective Display Coating Canceled

Monday April 28, 2025 12:48 pm PDT by
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors. Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
Read Full Article • 111 comments
apple watch ultra yellow

What's Next for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3

Friday April 25, 2025 2:44 pm PDT by
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too. 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 Apple didn't update the...
Read Full Article • 65 comments
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Reaches Key Milestone Ahead of Mass Production

Monday April 28, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report. iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to...
Read Full Article • 27 comments
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue

20th Anniversary iPhone Likely to Be Made in China Due to 'Extraordinarily Complex' Design

Monday April 28, 2025 4:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely manufacture its 20th anniversary iPhone models in China, despite broader efforts to shift production to India, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In 2027, Apple is planning a "major shake-up" for the iPhone lineup to mark two decades since the original model launched. Gurman's previous reporting indicates the company will introduce a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold"...
Read Full Article • 122 comments
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
Read Full Article • 101 comments
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Read Full Article
iphone 17 air iphone 16 pro

iPhone 17 Air USB-C Port May Have This Unusual Design Quirk

Wednesday April 30, 2025 3:59 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years. iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack) At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become ...
Read Full Article • 124 comments

Top Rated Comments

oneMadRssn Avatar
oneMadRssn
90 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)
chelsel Avatar
chelsel
90 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)
subjonas Avatar
subjonas
90 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
90 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
90 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
90 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