Snippet: The Future of Deliveries ☇

Mike Piontek (via Matt Birchler):

Many things have changed over the years, and unfortunately we’re no longer able to maintain the same service that so many of you have come to rely on. Deliveries relies on many different shipping companies, and without their help it’s not possible for the app to continue working the way you expect.

It’s likely that over time, more services in Deliveries will no longer show tracking information directly in the app. You won’t see the delivery date, the map route, or any of the details, and you won’t get notifications about changes to the status. You will need to use the “View Online” button to see your tracking information on the shipping company’s web site.

It seems that FedEx, Amazon, and possibly others have started killing off the ability to track using an API. Considering that basic tracking information is available without logging in (at least for companies like FedEx and UPS), I doubt it’s a security reason. Instead, I suspect they’d much rather you use their app to track, possibly tracking you.

Companies like FedEx aren’t exactly one where you’ll always be brand loyal because of the “app experience” anyway, as I often don’t get a say in how things are shipped to me. Nonetheless, I’ll probably stick to Deliveries and the web instead of every shipping company’s app.