It is well known that Google does not tremble if, when the time comes, it considers that a product or service has already reached the end of its useful life. Whether due to changes in its strategy, performance below expectations or the evolution of its ecosystem of services, it is better to shelve it and do something else. And although there are cases that were not particularly well accepted by their communities, such as Google Reader or Picasa, the truth is that in the vast majority of cases there are compelling reasons behind those closures that, constantly, go fattening the graveyard of Google.
The most notorious recent movement in this regard has been, without a doubt, the feared, expected and finally confirmed closure of Stadia, after a journey of around three years in which, for a host of reasons, the service never came to shine as much as the company expected, according to both the hype and saucer with which it was announced, and the more than substantial investment made in its implementation, with multiple data centers geographically distributed throughout the world to provide the best possible connectivity. It could not be, and the company decided, once again, to draw the curtain.
In comparison, today’s is a trifle, but also one more example that, when its time has come, the technology of the search engine is impassive (and it does well, in general). And it is that, in a few hours, The already announced closure of Hangouts has been completedand it has been known of his plans to remove the Street View appwhich provides direct access to the navigation service for streets, highways, etc., with a more than remarkable level of almost global coverage, as well as being one of the options used by users to upload their own content to it.
Regarding the first, Google Hangouts, the company already announced its definitive closure a few months ago, which would take effect yesterday, November 1, 2022. And there has been no pardon or extension, since since yesterday attempts to log in to Hangouts redirect to Chat, which has better Gmail integration. Thus, the plan announced by the company a few years ago, of migrate Hangouts to Chat. If you have been a Hangouts user and want to keep a copy of your history, you have until January 1, 2023 to download it with Google Takeout, because with the change of year all that data will be permanently deleted.
For its part, Street View is a feature that enjoys great popularity, but is fully integrated into Google Maps, both in its web version and in the Android and iOS apps, and users who wish to continue uploading content to it already have Street View Studio, a web tool designed specifically for this purpose. Thus, we can understand that the exclusive Street View app no longer makes sense to Google and, as has been detected when analyzing version 2.0.0.484371618 of the Android app, it includes several notices with the following text:
«The Street View app is going away
The app will be discontinued and support will end on March 21, 2023.
To post your own 360 video, switch to Street View Studio. To see Street View and add Photo Spheres, use Google Maps.»
As with Hangouts, Google begins to prepare the ground for the removal of Street View with a few months to goso that users can migrate to new (or not so new, in this case) alternatives to what is about to disappear.
With information from SlashGear and 9to5Google
