Runkeeper Will Stop Supporting Wear OS 'in a Few Weeks'

Runkeeper this week announced that it will discontinue its Wear OS app in the next few weeks. From a report: The update was emailed to users this week, where the company told users that it decided to end support because "the integration didn't work well / work consistently for most users." In a response to users, Runkeeper elaborated that only a small percentage of Runkeeper users were actually using the Wear OS app. "It was a very buggy experience and difficult for us to maintain and fix," a representative said in an email. "Because we're a small team with limited resources, and having done our research, we ultimately concluded that trying to maintain a partnership that wasn't working well would not be good practice for us."

Only a “small percentage” actually usi

[93 Escort Wagon]

Not being in the Android camp, I don’t quite grok this clarification. Are there multiple frameworks apps can use for this sort of thing on Android wearables? Or are there just not many Android-related wearables (which would then make me wonder why the clarification is necessary, since I assume Apple Watch users would know they aren’t using Wear OS)?

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[vix86]

There are cheapo watches that use a rudimentary setup I believe (ie: simple BT media control), but they mostly come out of China I think. Samsung has their own OS for their watches called Tizen I believe, Linux based. Then there is Wear OS.

There would be more android smartwatches out there if Google would let the reins go a little bit. Apparently there is a licensing system in place in order to be able to use Wear OS unlike Open Android. I've assumed this is why no Smartwatches exist below the $100 to $150

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[AvitarX]

I think the real problem is the chip.

Also, the watch as a portable device of the new wear OS kinda sucks (though it's what everybody said they wanted).

The early watch OS was far better using cards with gentle interactivity pushed from the phone.

I'm happy with my Zen Watch 2 (even with the newer OS), but it really needs a more modern chip that would allow smaller and/or more battery.

Even the newest chip doesn't really let it smartwatch more, just makes it able to be a fitness tracker more.

WTF is going on at Google

[jwymanm]

Is there some kind of extreme ADD going on? They can't seem to focus and deliver any product anymore that won't be discontinued inside of 2 years. Are they working on some kind of super top secret thing right now where it's going to replace Android and all software? Where is all their attention these days? They keep dropping products people are using and not caring anymore 6 months out the door about them. I'm not even looking forward to their releases on anything anymore. The community effort kind of got s

Re:WTF is going on at Google

[93 Escort Wagon]

They can't seem to focus and deliver any product anymore that won't be discontinued inside of 2 years.

I disagree - they’ve been delivering a product - our information - to their customers for advertising purposes for well over a decade.

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[Ryzilynt]

Bezos has been "distracted" with the whole divorce thing, and the ire of trump and all.

Many years ago a well known (no where near as big by Amazon/Apple standards) company called Sega introduced a series of products with very little longevity. It ultimately destroyed their reputation.

I imagine Sega's failure was linked to available capital. Something Amazon needn't be concerned with.

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[Ryzilynt]

Face meet palm - this thread is about Google not Amazon.

It still stands up.

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[tlhIngan]

Many years ago a well known (no where near as big by Amazon/Apple standards) company called Sega introduced a series of products with very little longevity. It ultimately destroyed their reputation.

No, the problem with Sega was management. The reason the Genesis/Mega Drive did so well during the 16 bit era was really due to the US head (who Sega brought on) being completely independent of the Japan headquarters and marketed stuff properly. Sales of the Genesis/Mega Drive in Japan sucked, compared to the US

Google too big to fail? Maybe not

[Malays Bowman]

This is making me wonder if the company is in some kind of trouble and they are a lot more shaky than they've been letting on. If this kind of behavior was happening at just about any other company, it's would be a big sign that the company is about ready to fail and go belly up. Just how much is the information sharing market really worth? Because it seems the numbers are very grossly inflated and a lot of criminal activity is going on to help inflate those numbers. I'm no expert on the economy, but t