New rules for the Apple Watch took effect April 1st, which blocked apps that require an iPhone to refresh their data from working on the device. That move caused a number of apps to stop working on the smartwatch, notably Instagram.
Apple hasn’t made an official statement regarding the decision, but many have speculated that it was done in order to help promote its newer Apple Watch models which use LTE data, Tech Times reports. Many early versions of Apple Watch apps required a users iPhone to be nearby to handle most of the heavy-lifting when it came to functioning on the wearable, a requirement the Instagram app still had.
Instagram was also always a bit awkward to use on the Apple Watch. Photos were exceptionally small on the watch’s display, and the app lacked some popular features from the mobile version such as messaging and video playback.
Instagram adds to a growing list of apps that were once available for the Apple Watch and have now been discontinued. Other apps on that list include Slack, Google Maps, eBay, and Amazon.
