Runkeeper ditches WearOS as Apple Watch’s dominance grows
Runkeeper is killing its WearOS smartwatch app due to quality concerns, according to a spate of reports.
The news broke via Reddit when a user posted an email from Runkeeper suggesting the company is cutting support over quality concerns.
“Because you use the ASICS Runkeeper™ app on a Wear OS by Google device, we’re writing to share some important news. As of app version 9.13 (coming your way in the next few weeks), the Runkeeper app will no longer be available on Wear OS by Google devices,” read the message.
“We know this is disappointing, and we’re sorry to have to make this change. Our team has been hard at work building innovative and high-impact training tools designed to keep Runkeeper users moving. We want to provide the best tracking experience possible to everyone who uses the Runkeeper app, and we’re just not able to offer it on Wear OS by Google at this time.”
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Trusted Reviews has contacted Runkeeper for confirmation of the news, but at the time of publishing had not heard back. Runkeeper is a popular fitness app used by joggers and athletes to keep track of their runs.
The news follows reports that Google’s WearOS smartwatch platform is struggling. Research from Canalys last week suggested Google WearOS devices only accounted for 4.1% of the “smart wearables” market in Q2 this year. Apple Watch by comparison controlled a 37.9% stake of the market.
Prior to Canalysis, research firm Strategy Analytics reported the Apple Watch controls a massive 46% of the smartwatch market and is outselling Samsung smartwatches by a factor of three-to-one and Fitbit by an even heftier six-to-one. Apple is expected to unveil a new Apple Watch 5 alongside the iPhone 11 on September 10.
The news follows a move away from Google WearOS. Outside of the Fossil Group most smartwatch and fitness trackers use homemade software. Garmin and Fitbit both use proprietary operating systems. Samsung, the next biggest wearables maker users its own Tizen OS.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
