How to Track Every Disabled Google Service and App
It’s corny to remind people of Google’s notorious reputation for abandoning its apps and services, but it’s true. Like any company, Google is constantly trying new ideas and testing new technologies. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, and a new Google product seems to get its own countdown to the end of the world every few months. If you’ve forgotten which Google apps and services are shutting down , a team of open source digital history experts will join you.
Killed by Google is a public listing of all Google-owned services, applications, or hardware that have been suspended since the company was founded. He also keeps track of who is scheduled to chop the meat (indicated by the guillotine icon) and how long the poor souls have gone. At the time of writing, there are only 149 entries on the list, including five products that will soon be closed, although the Killed by Google team encourages others to add to the list if something is missing – a lot of Google products have come and go after all.
While Killed by Google makes it easy to double check if Google is removing a service you like and when, it’s also a sobering nostalgic ride. For example, do you rememberGoogle Health ? What about the cursed Google Glass ? Or did you know that Google’s URL shortener, Goog.le , is just days away from disappearing? The list goes on.
Some of the many products on Killedbygoogle’s list have been phased out with new, better Google services, such as Allo giving way to a new Android chat based on RCS or Songza integrated into Google Play Music (which has recently been cross-experimented with YouTube Music ). Likewise, other unavailable products can be replaced with third-party applications – for example, replacing Google’s previous RSS readers with Feedly . In fact, there are non-Google alternatives for almost every Google service.
However, some of these now defunct products have yet to be properly replaced – whether by Google or third-party developers. We are not saying this to predict Google’s bleak future or dampen the hype about its current and upcoming projects. However, lists like Killed by Google point to the ephemeral and transient nature of the products of even the most successful companies and confirm the fact that no product or company will last forever, and their ideas are not always successful.