6 Useful Apps that Got the Axe, Will Be Seen No More
The tech world constantly evolves, and while new products hit the market hoping to make it big, other products get discontinued, much to the dismay of their fans.
That is what happened to the six apps listed below. They will be seen no more now that they’ve been discontinued.
1. HERE Maps for Windows 10
HERE Maps, the navigation app that was formerly known as Ovi Maps and Nokia Maps, has recently changed owners. In December 2015, Nokia sold HERE to a consortium of German companies made up of Audi, BMW and Daimler. Seems that the new owners aren’t big fans of Microsoft’s operating system, because HERE just announced that it would drop support for Windows 10.
And more to the point:
2. Tweetdeck for Windows
Do you use TweeDeck on your Windows PC to stay on top of your Twitter feed and to manage multiple Twitter accounts? I have some bad news for you: the standalone TweetDeck app for Windows will be discontinued come April 15, 2016. The good news is that the TweetDeck.com website lives on.
“To better focus on enhancing your TweetDeck experience, we’ll no longer support a standalone Windows app,” Twitter Product Manager Amy Zima announced. “If you use Windows, you’ll still be able to visit TweetDeck on the web — nothing is changing about TweetDeck itself, just where you access it from. This change will take effect on April 15th.”
Similar functionality is offered by TweetDuck, chylex's free and open source desktop client for TweetDeck.
3. Picasa desktop application
Google decided to put all of its energy and resources into its new mobile and web app, Google Photos. While this is good news for Google Photos, it spells the end for the Picasa image viewer and editor. Google pulled support for the Picasa desktop application as of March 15, 2016.
Google explained that it decided to retire Picasa because “we believe we can create a much better experience by focusing on one service that provides more functionality and works across mobile and desktop, rather than divide our efforts across two different products.
You can keep using Picasa after March 15 if you want to. But be warned that Google will no longer release any sort of update for the application. Security holes won’t get plugged, bugs won’t be fixed, new features won’t be introduced.
What about Picasa Web Albums? Google will close Picasa Web Albums on May 1, 2016. After May 1 you won’t be able to create, organize or edit your albums – you’ll still be able to view, download or delete your Picasa Web Albums Data though.
“If you have photos or videos in a Picasa Web Album today, the easiest way to still access, modify and share most of that content is to log in to Google Photos, and all your photos and videos will already be there. Using Google Photos, you can continue to upload and organize your memories, as well as enjoy other great benefits like better ways to search and share your images,” said Anil Sabharwal, Head of Google Photos
4. Skype Qik
Back in 2011, Skype acquired Qik. Then in 2014, it released Skype Qik, an app that runs alongside Skype and lets you quickly share videos with groups of friends. Over time, Skype took Qik’s most used features and migrated them to the official Skype app. And that, unfortunately, spelled the end for Qik. The app will be discontinued on March 24, 2016.
“Please make sure to save any special messages you may want to keep before March 24th,” cautions Skype. “After this date, you will no longer be able to send or receive messages.”
5. Yahoo Livetext
The Yahoo Livetext app will be shut down at the end of March 2016. The interesting thing about this app is that it combined texting with video – you could see the people you were texting. There was no audio though. You could text someone, you could see that someone, but you couldn’t hear that someone.
6. Barnes & Noble’s Nook app
On March 15, Barnes & Noble killed off its Nook app and the Nook video store from where you could purchase content for your Nook-branded hardware.
Honorable mentions
Here are a few other things that have been or will be discontinued soon
In related news...
Here are 8 other useful apps that got the axe and will be missed.
That is what happened to the six apps listed below. They will be seen no more now that they’ve been discontinued.
1. HERE Maps for Windows 10
HERE Maps, the navigation app that was formerly known as Ovi Maps and Nokia Maps, has recently changed owners. In December 2015, Nokia sold HERE to a consortium of German companies made up of Audi, BMW and Daimler. Seems that the new owners aren’t big fans of Microsoft’s operating system, because HERE just announced that it would drop support for Windows 10.
And more to the point:
- HERE will remove its apps from the Windows 10 Store on March 29, 2016.
- The HERE Maps app will no longer work on devices that run Windows 10 mobile after June 30, 2016.
- HERE development for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 will be limited to critical bug fixes only. HERE will continue to work, but you won’t get any new features, just critical bug fixes.
2. Tweetdeck for Windows
Do you use TweeDeck on your Windows PC to stay on top of your Twitter feed and to manage multiple Twitter accounts? I have some bad news for you: the standalone TweetDeck app for Windows will be discontinued come April 15, 2016. The good news is that the TweetDeck.com website lives on.
“To better focus on enhancing your TweetDeck experience, we’ll no longer support a standalone Windows app,” Twitter Product Manager Amy Zima announced. “If you use Windows, you’ll still be able to visit TweetDeck on the web — nothing is changing about TweetDeck itself, just where you access it from. This change will take effect on April 15th.”
Similar functionality is offered by TweetDuck, chylex's free and open source desktop client for TweetDeck.
3. Picasa desktop application
Google decided to put all of its energy and resources into its new mobile and web app, Google Photos. While this is good news for Google Photos, it spells the end for the Picasa image viewer and editor. Google pulled support for the Picasa desktop application as of March 15, 2016.
Google explained that it decided to retire Picasa because “we believe we can create a much better experience by focusing on one service that provides more functionality and works across mobile and desktop, rather than divide our efforts across two different products.
You can keep using Picasa after March 15 if you want to. But be warned that Google will no longer release any sort of update for the application. Security holes won’t get plugged, bugs won’t be fixed, new features won’t be introduced.
What about Picasa Web Albums? Google will close Picasa Web Albums on May 1, 2016. After May 1 you won’t be able to create, organize or edit your albums – you’ll still be able to view, download or delete your Picasa Web Albums Data though.
“If you have photos or videos in a Picasa Web Album today, the easiest way to still access, modify and share most of that content is to log in to Google Photos, and all your photos and videos will already be there. Using Google Photos, you can continue to upload and organize your memories, as well as enjoy other great benefits like better ways to search and share your images,” said Anil Sabharwal, Head of Google Photos
4. Skype Qik
Back in 2011, Skype acquired Qik. Then in 2014, it released Skype Qik, an app that runs alongside Skype and lets you quickly share videos with groups of friends. Over time, Skype took Qik’s most used features and migrated them to the official Skype app. And that, unfortunately, spelled the end for Qik. The app will be discontinued on March 24, 2016.
“Please make sure to save any special messages you may want to keep before March 24th,” cautions Skype. “After this date, you will no longer be able to send or receive messages.”
5. Yahoo Livetext
The Yahoo Livetext app will be shut down at the end of March 2016. The interesting thing about this app is that it combined texting with video – you could see the people you were texting. There was no audio though. You could text someone, you could see that someone, but you couldn’t hear that someone.
6. Barnes & Noble’s Nook app
On March 15, Barnes & Noble killed off its Nook app and the Nook video store from where you could purchase content for your Nook-branded hardware.
Honorable mentions
Here are a few other things that have been or will be discontinued soon
- The Google Compare comparison service will be discontinued on March 23rd, 2016.
- Yahoo started to phase out several of its digital magazines, including Yahoo Food, Yahoo Health, Yahoo Parenting, Yahoo Makers, Yahoo Travel, Yahoo Autos, and Yahoo Real Estate.
- Yahoo Games will be discontinued on Friday 13 May 2016.
- Mozilla discontinued the Tab Groups feature for its Firefox web browser.
In related news...
Here are 8 other useful apps that got the axe and will be missed.
