PayPal Withdrawing Support For Kindle Fire, BlackBerry And Windows Phone

PayPal announced recently that it was withdrawing support for apps designed for the BlackBerry, Amazon Kindle Fire and the Microsoft Windows Phone. The announcement comes as the online payments company required users to upgrade their up to the latest version for Google Android and Apple iPhone. BlackBerry, Amazon Kindle Fire and Windows Phone users can use their PayPal apps until June 30.

The withdrawal of support by PayPal for the three platforms highlights the influence of Google and Apple in the market. The two tech companies dominate the smartphone market as it accounted for around 97 percent of worldwide smartphone sales for the first quarter. This was revealed by Gartner, a market research company, which indicates developers have less reason to work on apps for other platforms.

The effects are evident in the market as consumers are likely to purchase an Android-powered smartphone or an iPhone. Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it was laying off 1,850 employees in its smartphone business. The recent layoff comes amid another job reduction affecting 4,500 employees last week. The moves come as the company divested itself of its basic phone assets, which essentially ends its ambition of creating its own mobile device. BlackBerry is still struggling in the industry after it lost its lofty status as one of the best device companies in the market.

PayPal Withdrawing Support For Kindle Fire, BlackBerry And Windows Phone - image credit: windowscentral.com

However, the withdrawal of support from the Amazon Kindle Fire was surprising. The reasonably-priced tablet maintained its popularity and uses an Android variant that may not be compatible with the standard version of the mobile OS of Google. Due to this, it will be necessary for developers to tweak their apps to make it compatible with the devices of the online retail giant.

The vice president of consumer product of PayPal, Joanna Lambert, said the decision to withdraw support for the three platforms was not easy to make, but the company believes it is doing the right thing to invest in the creation of the best experiences for the customers of the company.

Users of the three platforms can still access the online payments service through the mobile site. Users of Windows Outlook.com can also send payments by enabling the PayPal add-in while BlackBerry users can use BlackBerry Messenger to send money.

The updated app can be used on Android-powered smartphones using version 4.03 or higher of the mobile OS along with Apple devices using iOS 8.1 or higher. The updated apple simplified the method of sending and requesting cash. It also has a new home screen showing important transaction details.

Posted by George Daniels on Friday May 27 2016, 5:27 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Shopping. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0