It’s safe to say that the wearable tech craze has calmed down a little in recent months, as the era of digital transformation pushes people to consider new technology opportunities like AI, IoT, and even virtual reality instead. Perhaps that’s why Slack, one of the biggest collaboration technology vendors in the world, recently announced that they’ll be abandoning their dedicated app for the Apple Watch.
While users will still have the opportunity to read their Slack notifications, respond to alerts, and answer messages through their Apple Watch, there will no longer be a dedicated application for the collaborative tool.
You Can Still Use the Apple Notification Feature
The previous standalone Slack application for the Apple Watch offered somewhat restricted functionality for smartwatch users. Despite their potential, wearable solutions have seen limited opportunities for growth in the UC market, as many “made for Apple watch” applications have rolled out with only basic features.
While you could respond to messages and view your notifications on the Slack app, it wasn’t a particularly intuitive way to stay in touch with your fellow co-workers. What’s more, you can now accomplish all the same things through the Apple “Rich Notifications” function. However, you won’t be able to view any unread mentions.
Responding to the Apple Update
When the iOS software update rolled out with new rich notification functionality, Slack told their customers that they no longer needed the dedicated smartwatch app to handle their collaboration tool. As such, the company chose to remove the standalone app but reassured their users that they would still be able to reply to their messages from their wrist.
Slack isn’t the first company to give up on the Apple Watch craze, either. Twitter previously announced that it would no longer be issuing updates to its Apple Watch app and would instead be sending notifications using the same tech as Slack. Additionally, a selection of first-adopters like eBay, Amazon, and Google Maps chose to discontinue their app offerings too.
Has the Buzz Died Down?
In a world where everyone seemed to be desperate to get their hands on a new Apple toy, companies were eager to jump on the bandwagon and deliver an additional way for users to access their services quickly, and efficiently. However, it seems that many of the apps provided simply don’t offer the intuitive experiences that customers require for all-out adoption, which means that there’s little reason to keep the apps going anymore.
The dedicated Slack app first appeared on the Apple watch in April 2015, and it was an exciting time for the world of business collaboration. However, with little to offer on such a small user interface, Slack have finally decided that it’s time to give up on the watch and focus their attention elsewhere.
What do YOU think? Have you used the Slack app on your Apple Watch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
