After complaints from users, the website 9to5Mac confirmed on Sunday (26) that Facebook Watch, a dedicated app for watching Facebook videos and broadcasts on TVs, has suddenly stopped working on Apple TV. What is speculated is that the social network may have discontinued the app for the tvOS operating system.
Although it continues to be available on the App Store, where it started to be presented with a new logo, the fact is that, when installed on Apple TV, Facebook Watch no longer works, after its most recent update. When trying to access the app, users receive a message that the software is “no longer available”, but that the videos can be watched directly on the Facebook website.
In practice, this means that there is no way to watch the videos on Apple TV, as tvOs does not have a web browser. This means that if you want to watch YouTube videos, the user will have to resort to some sort of AirPlay, which can mirror the screen of a mobile device to the TV.
Why was Facebook Watch discontinued?
Source: Shutterstock/Reproduction.Source: Shutterstock
tvOs has been discontinued, but the other versions for smart TVs continue to work. That is, if your TV’s operating system is not Apple’s, you can continue to stream “to a TV from the Facebook mobile app”, as described on the website.
According to 9to5Mac, the demise of the Facebook Watch for Apple TV was half-expected because, unlike the popular iPhones and iPads, Apple TV doesn’t have the same popular reception as its apple-branded counterparts. Thus, developers end up losing interest in updating their applications on the platform.
