Microsoft is banning important apps from the Apple Watch
Now Microsoft is getting serious and removing a popular app from the Apple Watch. It hits an app that is very important for quite a few employees in Germany. The departure of the Microsoft Authenticator app was announced at the end of last year.
February 7, 2023 update: The threat becomes reality because the recent update of the Microsoft Authenticator App from Microsoft to version 6.7.3 in the App Store banned the app from the Apple Watch with immediate effect. The text of the change to the iPhone app is described as follows: “This update removes Microsoft Authenticator from the Apple Watch. You can still choose to have Authenticator mirror iPhone notifications to your Apple Watch in your Apple Watch notification settings.”
Even if it demonstrably does not directly damage the success of the Apple Watch, in recent years the Apple Watch has repeatedly lost the support of numerous app developers – for example Twitter, Slack, Instagram, Evernote, Trello or Hulu. They will be joined in January by the Microsoft Authenticator Apple Watch app (Source: Microsoft).
Microsoft Authenticator: End of the Apple Watch app
It will be concrete in January 2023 Microsoft are announcing an update to the iPhone and iPad app that will remove the previously available Apple Watch companion app. But why is the software giant from Redmond making this momentous decision? The developer vaguely states that the Apple Watch operating system “is not compatible with the Authenticator security functions”. There have probably been or will be corresponding changes, which will then become acute in January. Microsoft is therefore already recommending customers to delete the app on the Apple Watch, as it will no longer work in the next month anyway.
Apple’s current series of smartwatches:
Very important to mention: Only the app for the Apple Watch is actually affected. Microsoft Authenticator will as well future for iOS and iPadOS and is therefore available to users of an iPhone and an iPad. So only the Apple Watch will get nothing in the future.
On the topic on GIGA:
What is the app actually good for?
But why is Microsoft Authenticator so important? The app allows the Two-Factor Verification of Microsoft account and supported apps. The apps also generate codes for one-time use. So there is no need to wait for texts or calls to access your account. Quite a few companies rely on this security feature for their own systems. This also includes, for example, Ströer Media Brands, the digital media house to which GIGA also belongs.
