Your Apple TV has only one of its uses as: Facebook Watch – a version of the social media platform intended for TV, videos and live streams – is no longer supported by tvOS†
First spotted by 9to5Mac (opens in new tab)when Apple TV 4K users try to access Facebook Watch, they get a message that says, “The Facebook Watch TV app is no longer available, but you can still find many videos on Facebook at www.facebook.com/watch.”
Interestingly, the app is still available for download on the tvOS App Store. Additionally, at the time of writing, “Apple TV (4th generation or newer)” is still listed in the Facebook Watch TV app official list of supported devices (opens in new tab)†
Because of this, it’s unclear whether Meta has decided to leave Apple TV for good or if this is just a bug causing the error message to appear.
While Facebook Watch is not seen in the same vein as Netflix or Amazon Prime video it is still a popular streaming service. When it last shared details about its popularity, Meta said about 1.25 billion users use Facebook Watch every month.
We contacted Meta and Apple and an Apple representative contacted us and explained that only Meta knows why the app is not available. Hopefully, the social media tech giant can explain when Apple TV users will be able to tune in to Facebook Watch again.
If Meta left Apple TV, we can’t really blame it, as Apple hasn’t given the platform much love either.
The most recent Apple TV device – the Apple TV 4K – launched quite recently in 2021, but this year WWDC 2022 Keynote, tvOS was absent from the main stage. A new tvOS16 beta was supposed to come out, but you’d have to actively search for it on Apple’s website to find it.
It’s a shame because Apple TV is a really good one streaming device† Sure, it’s a bit expensive, but the picture quality it delivers is great and the updates in tvOS 16 sound great. There will finally be HDR10+ support and new integrations with watchOS 9† iOS 16and iPad OS 16 will help bring upgrades to your workouts and introduce new second screen improvements to what you’re watching.
But if Apple doesn’t care enough to celebrate the features of its own platform, why should third-party developers care?
Hopefully, other Apple TV services won’t follow Facebook’s lead and leave the platform, but we wouldn’t be surprised if they do based on how things are going.
If you’re thinking about buying an Apple TV, you might want to think again and grab a deal on a streaming stick like Roku instead of. And if you already have one, make sure you use it as much as you can while you still can.