Pokemon Go Discontinues Support on Apple Watch

Pokemon Go will no longer work on the Apple Watch as of July 1st. Niantic announced that they were discontinuing Apple Watch support for their popular mobile game, in part because of recent additions to the game that rendered the Apple Watch obsolete. ""Because Adventure Sync allows Trainers the option of tracking their steps, earning Buddy Candy, and hatching Eggs in one mobile device rather than 2 separate devices, we want to focus on building Adventure Sync so that Trainers will no longer have to split their gameplay between 2 devices," Niantic explained on their official support page.

The Apple Watch version of Pokemon Go allowed the game to constantly monitor a player's steps, allowing them to collect Buddy Candy and hatch eggs without opening the app. While those functions were rendered obsolete by Pokemon Go's Adventure Sync system, the Apple Watch app also allowed players to collect items from PokeStops, something that Adventure Sync doesn't do. Pokemon Go players with Apple Watches could also receive notifications when Pokemon were nearby, although they needed to open the app on the phone in order to catch them.

While it seemed like only a fraction of the userbase had Apple Watches, some players will probably be understandably frustrated with Pokemon Go discontinuing their Apple Watch support. After all, Niantic has supported the Apple Watch for nearly three years, and it likely was a primary way for some players to interact with the game. Plus, the Adventure Sync system doesn't completely replicate the Apple Watch functions, so this will be a step back for some players.

Pokemon Go will no longer connect to the Apple Watch as of July 1st. Players have less than one month to start making plans to change how they play Pokemon Go.