​Apple Watch update kills Reserve Strap charging band dead

But you can still get one if you promise not to update your Apple Watch ever
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We were super stoked when Reserve Strap announced its power giving Apple Watch band – but it appears the project is now dead in the water.

It seems Apple has scuppered the project with a recent update to watchOS, which prevents accessories from communicating with watch via the diagnostic port, hidden under the strap clip. That spells the end of Reserve Strap, which promised to extend battery life by 150% – equating to a week of use at a time.

Essential reading: Apple Watch 2 guide

"Beginning with WatchOS 2.0.1 an unexpected change to the Apple External Accessory Protocol disabled the functionality of Reserve Strap," the Reserve Strap makers wrote on their web site.

While the problem is described as a bug by the Reserve Strap team, they also stated that "Apple has suspended use of this port until they unveil an official MFi program for Watch." That essentially means that Apple has pulled the plug on the party until it can create a standard for the smart strap category and/or release its own.

Shipments of Reserve Strap have been suspended, although anyone who's not going to update their Apple Watch can still receive a strap.

Source: Mashable

​Apple Watch update kills Reserve Strap charging band dead

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James Stables

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James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.

He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.

James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.


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