Watchville gone.

[earlofsodbury]

Just opened Watchville to check the latest news in the wacky world of wristwatches - seems the latest news is that f****** Hodinkee is continuing to expand its empire into a monopoly, and so Watchville is no more.

Presumably bought-out by Hodinkee and shut down to crowbar as many people as possible directly onto their site.

For the uninitiated, Watchville was an aggregator that pulled together articles from a dozen or so separate watch news sites into one feed.

*SIGH*

Anyone aware of an independent equivalent?

[jukeboxs]

Well, that's disappointing, WV was one of the few non-work non-finance Apps I used on my iPhone.

[Redcoat]

That’s odd. It seems to still be active and working for me.

[monogroover]

[wileeeeeey]

I seem to remember a couple of websites removing themselves from Watchville because it hid all of their advertising and therefore starved them of revenue.

I think SJX and/or maybe Quill & Pad being vocal about it a few years ago and Kevin Rose gave a mealy mouthed response.

It might not necessarily be hodinkee being hodinkee (although that’s very possible), Watchville just might not have had much to surface and pulled the plug. I loved that app but deleted it when they were getting dragged for stealing the users and keeping all the ad revenue as it felt too shady to be a user of.

[Nono]

Watchville was always backed up by Hodinkee, it's founder Kevin Rose (also a shareholder in Hodinkee and one of the early investors) made the app and website just at the time when Hodinkee started to rise. It's actually weird that they allowed Watchville to stay up this long, because it's drawing away some of the readers from Hodinkee site. Too bad for the site, I was visiting at least three times a day

[earlofsodbury]

Thanks for the backstories ^ - didn't know any of that, some of it is bordering on bizarre.

I hope someone steps into the breach and comes-up with a platform that works for everyone - not exactly difficult in 2022!

[the_gazelle]

Oh that is gutting! It was my go-to for perusing watch stuff on my phone! Gah.
I really do think that Hodinkee have done more harm than good to this hobby!


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[TH14TH14]

I seem to remember a couple of websites removing themselves from Watchville because it hid all of their advertising and therefore starved them of revenue.

I think SJX and/or maybe Quill & Pad being vocal about it a few years ago and Kevin Rose gave a mealy mouthed response.

It might not necessarily be hodinkee being hodinkee (although that’s very possible), Watchville just might not have had much to surface and pulled the plug. I loved that app but deleted it when they were getting dragged for stealing the users and keeping all the ad revenue as it felt too shady to be a user of.

Interesting stuff - thanks. I always wondered why ablogtowatch didn't feature. I assumed it was because they were a competitor to Hodinkee but this could explain it. Shame about Watchville - it was a handy news aggregator.

[gorrie]

The app on my phone still seems to be giving news updates ?

[the_gazelle]

Yes it does for mine too now but I initially had a notification page appear this morning stating that it was being retired. I guess they are giving us some warning before doing so?


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[I am not a robot]

That’s a shame, like a few here, I was a regular user of the Watchville app. However, if anyone’s interested, a little search just found this IOS app - All Watch News (inspired title) which seems to do a very similar thing.

[the_gazelle]

That’s a shame, like a few here, I was a regular user of the Watchville app. However, if anyone’s interested, a little search just found this IOS app - All Watch News (inspired title) which seems to do a very similar thing.

Awesome! Well done that man! It looks good. Thanks.


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[earlofsodbury]

That’s a shame, like a few here, I was a regular user of the Watchville app. However, if anyone’s interested, a little search just found this IOS app - All Watch News (inspired title) which seems to do a very similar thing.

Brill, thanks, that looks promising! - Address for us dinosaurs not using 'phones: https://allwatchnews.com/

[wileeeeeey]

That’s a shame, like a few here, I was a regular user of the Watchville app. However, if anyone’s interested, a little search just found this IOS app - All Watch News (inspired title) which seems to do a very similar thing.

Just downloaded and looks great. Thank you.

[Itsguy]

I'm fond of Feedly (the discontinued but still available classic version which is nicer to look at), for aggregating feeds from various watch related websites into something that looks like a magazine on the iPad: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/feedly...c/id1440918660

[abraxas]

......

I really do think that Hodinkee have done more harm than good to this hobby!

+1

[MartynJC (UK)]

. . .if anyone’s interested, a little search just found this IOS app - All Watch News (inspired title) which seems to do a very similar thing.

Just downloaded and looks great. Thank you.

*1

[daveyw]

Came here for some info, got it. Great stuff. Now downloaded All Watch News and screw Hodinkee!

[Watchmanuk4]

It’s a shame. Hodinkee now mostly a shop window.

[jsong6688]

Oh no.. terrible news. Looks like HODINKEE is looking to consolidate the market.


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[the_gazelle]

Oh no.. terrible news. Looks like HODINKEE is looking to consolidate the market.


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Yes, even more than they have already! They won’t be happy until they ARE the market!

[abraxas]

Yes, even more than they have already! They won’t be happy until they ARE the market!

They are pissing off more people every day. I wouldn't buy from them if they were the last people on earth. Remember Windows? A Bill Gates in the making.

[IanBear]

That’s a shame, like a few here, I was a regular user of the Watchville app. However, if anyone’s interested, a little search just found this IOS app - All Watch News (inspired title) which seems to do a very similar thing.

Thank you. Watchville and here were my main sources of news, so having this is genuinely a relief!