Microsoft Authenticator drops support for Apple Watch

If you’ve become accustomed to conveniently logging in to your accounts using the app on your Apple Watch, you’ll need to find an alternative.

Microsoft Authenticator is ending support for the Apple Watch. Unfortunately, this means you’ll no longer be able to conveniently log in to your connected accounts using just the wearable, as reported earlier by MacRumors.

While the app’s 6.7.3 iOS update states that it “removes Microsoft Authenticator from Apple Watch,” it also notes that you can still mirror any Microsoft Authenticator notifications you receive on your iPhone to your Apple Watch.

Microsoft first introduced Authenticator for the Apple Watch in 2018, and it’s proven useful for anyone looking to streamline their multi-factor authentication (MFA) sign-ins. Instead of having to open the Microsoft Authenticator app on your phone to verify your identity, you could instead approve the log-in through a notification that appears on your watch.

We first heard about the shutdown in December, after Microsoft quietly updated its FAQ page to note that you won’t be able to install or use Authenticator on Apple Watch. It’s unclear why Microsoft’s choosing to drop support for the Apple Watch now and vaguely states that watchOS is “incompatible with Authenticator security features.”

Over the course of several years, watchOS has lost a number of noteworthy apps, including Pokémon Go, Uber, Instagram, and more, proving that not every service out there needs a presence on your wrist. But out of all these apps, the Microsoft Authenticator companion app is perhaps the most practical, and it’s a bummer that it’s going away.