Within 365 days of a year we encounter many exciting new terminals, some less so, and many apps and games, but not all of them are joys. It’s also the time to say goodbye to applications, services or any other element related to Android that passed away in 2020.
As in previous years, we have compiled 13 things we said goodbye to on Android during the year, as well as some that are still functioning, but whose deaths have already been announced. They might not all be the best, but we choose to remember them as such when we say goodbye on this last day of the year.
Google Hangouts
Date of death: Mid 2020
Hangouts, the messaging application once preinstalled on virtually all Android devices, started to fall out of favor in 2016, when Google announced not one, but two replacement apps: Google Allo and Google Duo. Ironically, Hangouts would eventually outlive Allo, which closed its doors in 2019.
Since then, Hangouts has been in limbo as Google tried to clean up its messaging apps. After the last reorganization with Google Workspace, it looks like Google has finally balanced the accounts, and Hangouts to migrate to Google Chat in mid-2021. Will this be the last episode of the Hangouts drama? Stay tuned.
Google Play Music
Date of death: 2020
Another death that has long been brewing is that of Google Play Music, which for many years was the pre-installed music player on Android phones. YouTube later launched its own subscription music service, which would eventually become a rival app for Google Play Music, Youtube Music.
Google then decided that YouTube Music would be its main music service, starting to phase out everything related to Google Play Music and gradually including functions still missing from YouTube Music. With the closure of the Google Play Music store, it is reasonable to declare the death of Google Play Music
Datally
Date of death: ¿2019?
Datally was an app for control mobile data usage which began its journey in 2017 under the name Triangle. The app connected the mobile to a local VPN in order to analyze and manage mobile data traffic with precision.
Suddenly Google deleted Datally from Google Play without explanation, and it continues to this day. Technically, this happened in 2019, but since we didn’t include it in last year’s compilation, we felt the need to give it a late final farewell. By the way, the app can still be installed from Google Play if you downloaded it at some point in the past.
Firefox Send y Firefox Notes
Date of death: September 2020
For many years, Firefox had only one application on Android: its browser. In 2018, Mozilla started publishing other applications under the Firefox brand, like Firefox Send, Firefox Notes, Firefox Lockwise or Firefox ScreenshotGo.
Several of these apps are still available, but in September they announced that Firefox Send and Firefox Notes had their days numbered, as part of a change in strategic direction and, in the case of Send, the fact that some users are using it to send malware and carry out phishing attacks.
Samsung xr
Date of death: September 2021
In 2019, Google abandoned its Daydream VR virtual reality platform, and Samsung followed suit a few months later, announcing closure of its virtual reality service: Samsung XR. Since May, several related services have been closed, until the final closure on September 30, when all accounts were deleted.
Samsung has completely swept its VR platform from all store apps, and Samsung VR Video has been removed from the Microsoft Mixed Reality store on Google Play. The glasses of the house were therefore left without support and without application, which can only be used for viewing offline content.
Unlimited Google Photos storage
Date of death: June 2021
One of the low blows of the year in the year that has been full of low blows has been the announcement that Google will end unlimited Google Photos backup. That is to say, No need to have a copy of all your photos in Google Photos anymore in exchange for “compressing” them at high quality instead of the original quality.
The change has not yet taken effect, and is that everything will remain the same until June 2021, but in these six months that separate us from the date, we go through the different phases of mourning. We hope to accept it by June 2021, perhaps finding a good alternative.
Copy of Samsung Cloud Gallery
Date of death: June 2021
Another sync service that will stop working in June 2021 is Samsung’s. Under the name of Samsung Cloud, this cloud integrated with One UI allows you to synchronize and store a copy of your photo gallery.
Neither the photo gallery nor the files you have in Drive storage will sync to Samsung Cloud anymore, offering you to use Microsoft’s OneDrive storage instead. The Samsung Cloud service will shut down permanently in June 2021, when all data will be erased.
Message preview
Date of death: August 2020
When Google launched its new messaging apps, Allo and Duo, it ran into a problem: at first not many people had them installed, so it was difficult to keep up with giants like WhatsApp or Messenger, with millions of people. users. The solution: a Google invention called preview messages.
Preview messages let you chat with people who didn’t have the app installed. In other words, from Allo, you can write to someone who does not use Allo, and a notification will arrive on his mobile from which he can install Allo. The system never spread and eventually Google has disabled the API around the middle of the year.
Fortnite on Google Play
Date of death: August 2020
Fortnite was launched on a selective list of Android mobiles in 2018 and using your own installer, downloadable in APK format from the Epic Games website, to avoid paying commissions for Google in-app purchases. In April, the miracle happened: Fortnite reached Google Play, making it easy to install.
The joy did not last long. In August, Epic included its own payment system in Fortnite, ignoring Google’s in-built purchasing system and, therefore, the commission. As a consequence, Google removed Fortnite from Google Play
Android version distribution
Date of death: april 2020
For years, Google has been updating the Android version distribution charts on a monthly basis across all active Android devices, but in 2019 this started to linger. Updates skipped one month, two, three, or directly did not arrive. After almost a year with no news, Google has finally has stopped including distribution data on its website.
Instead, Google makes sure developers can see the most used versions. in Android Studio, but the truth is that this data has only been updated once and no more, in April 2020. To see the state of fragmentation, the only tools we have are the crumbs of information that Google publishes from time to time, when Find positive information to share.
Tetris and Tetris Blitz
Date of death: april 2020
There are few games as recognizable and universal as Tetris. This block game is on virtually every platform imaginable, including mobiles. On Android, Electronic Arts had the license and two quite popular games: Tetris and Tetris Blitz. Both disappeared on April 21 from the store.
The death comes after The Tetris Company and N3TWORK reached an agreement to launch Tetris Royale, a Battle Royale mode that can accommodate up to 99 players at a time. This successor is already on Google Play under the name Tetris, although its score is not very good, with 3.3 stars for the moment.
Periscope
Date of death: March 2021
Twitter bought Periscope, the live video streaming app, in 2015, though it never seemed keen on developing it. In its place, adapted and included Periscope functionality on Twitter, like its own live video system, Twitter Live.
Finally, Twitter posted the expiration date of the Periscope. Periscope will continue to operate for the time being, but new accounts can no longer be created and the app and service will be closed permanently. in March 2021, since the decline in the number of users has made its maintenance “unsustainable”, according to Twitter.
Google Cloud Print
Date of death: January 1, 2021
Google Cloud Print was a system whereby you could connect a cloud printer and thus be able to print from any device. After ten years in beta, last year announced the shutdown of the service, which will stop working tomorrow.
When it launched in 2010, Google Cloud Print was touted as a good solution to be able to print from Chromebooks and Android, but the latest versions of Chrome OS and Android natively support printer management, the application is therefore obsolete.
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