Microsoft Authenticator is discontinued on Apple Watch

Update (02/07/2023) – by LR

According to announced in December 2022 by Microsoftthe company ended support for the Authenticator app on the Apple Watch earlier this year, a watch that has had a special version of the platform since 2018, but which this week was officially discontinued on the watchOS operating system.

The change prevents wearable users from using Microsoft’s two-step verification app to simplify access in apps that support the feature. Although it communicated the end of compatibility, the developer did not commit to revealing the reason for this recent decision.

On its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, Microsoft states that “there will be no companion app for watchOS as it is incompatible with Authenticator’s security features”. This change does not affect Android and iOS, software that can still use the 2SV platform with downloads from Google Play and the App Store.

Authenticator is not the first app to be discontinued on watchOS, as services like Twitter, Instagram, Target, Trello, Slack, Hulu and Uber also lost support on the Cupertino giant’s wearable.

Microsoft Authenticator on iOS will stop supporting the Apple Watch starting in January next year, Microsoft announced.

The feature that is primarily used to sign in to Microsoft accounts with two-step authentication enabled, the Microsoft Authenticator had a companion app for Apple Watch since 2018. It supports personal, work, and school Microsoft accounts configured with push notifications and allows users to bypass the need to pick up their iPhone to complete the authentication process.

Microsoft, however, has already nailed this change on an official Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page:

Does Apple Watch support Authenticator on iOS?

In the next release of Authenticator in January 2023 for iOS there will be no companion app for watchOS as it is incompatible with Authenticator’s security features. This means that you will not be able to install or use Authenticator on your Apple Watch. Therefore, we recommend that you delete the Authenticator from your Apple Watch. This change only affects the Apple Watch, so you will still be able to use Authenticator on your other devices.

Microsoft has not specified which security features the watchOS app is incompatible with going forward and only directs users to the ‌iPhone‌ or iPad app to authenticate login attempts.

With that, the Microsoft Authenticator feature joins a long list of third-party watchOS apps that are being discontinued for not being precisely functional or for having had little user adoption – see other examples like Twitter, Instagram, Target, Trello , Slack, Hulu and Uber.