back to article Hangouts hangs up on third party apps

If you were working on an app using the Google+ Hangouts API, pour some coffee and purge the code, because Mountain View's killing it off as part of its strategy of nibbling the flesh from the Hangouts skeleton. The blog post announcing the change is dated last Wednesday, but it passed without notice because how often do …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The Google giveth...

    ...and The Google taketh away.

    I understand that it have no obligations on keeping its tools or APIs alive, but hadn't this happened often enough? Orkut, Wave, Picasa, what else?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The Google giveth...

      "but hadn't this happened often enough?"

      Obviously not because it has happened.

      QED.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The Google giveth...

      Don't worry, there won't be any new Google products. They're at the consolidation/decline phase of business.

      Expect all those spybot personal assistants to shut down in a year or so, as the inescapable decline of ad revenue makes even constant audio surveillance unprofitable.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The Google giveth...

        "Expect all those spybot personal assistants to shut down in a year or so, as the inescapable decline of ad revenue makes even constant audio surveillance unprofitable."

        I find that statement factually 100% false, yet I lie to myself and agree 100%. I fear spying on all citizens is now "too big to fail". FFS, they now want to watch you brush your hair!

        1. Sampler

          Re: The Google giveth...

          Jokes on them, I'm bald...

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
            Facepalm

            Re: The Google giveth...

            "Jokes on them, I'm bald..."

            You forgot the slaphead icon!

    3. Barry Rueger

      Re: The Google giveth...

      Reader, MyTracks....

    4. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: The Google giveth...

      1) can you tell the difference between an API and a service? Hangouts is alive and kicking, the rest are better RIP.

      2) which services do you provide for free?

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: The Google giveth...

        "2) which services do you provide for free?"

        Google service are only free until the take-up reaches critical mass such that once the adverts and data mining starts, those who leave are just a drop in the ocean. Although I suspect Hangouts never reached that critical mass. Nothing is ever free from Google. You pay in one way or another.

        1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

          Re: The Google giveth...

          You pay in one way or another.

          Aw, diddums.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    Why don't they rewrite it in Go?

    ... and give it another shot?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Why don't they rewrite it in Go?

      Because Go may be the next technology to be taken behind the barn? :-)

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmm

    Not sure about this skeleton nonsense. Hangouts is the only video serivce that works well, consistently for us, Skype is just garbage. Not sure if it's Googles vp9 codecs or something else, but never ever have any problems with 10 way video chats and teleconferences.

  4. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    Is this Reddit or what?

    Google announced last year that Allo and Duo would be the new messaging platforms with Hangouts being reserved for enterprise, where it works really well and for which the relevant extensions will be kept around.

    Note to self: one-sentence-per-paragraph articles are usually accompanied by whiny comments.

    1. fattybacon

      Re: Is this Reddit or what?

      Don't Allo and Duo rely on using your mobile number for identification, like WhatsApp? I'd have been shafted recently during a protracted number porting fiasco, whereas my Google account-based identity let's me get up and running with a device really quickly.

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

        Re: Is this Reddit or what?

        Don't Allo and Duo rely on using your mobile number for identification

        like SMS/MMS, etc.? Probably to set up but I think this is a side-effect of the encryption system used. The phone + SIM model was chosen for GSM because it's good for security and also one of the reasons why, in Europe at least, the phone number belongs to the user and not the service provider.

        If you want something multi-platform that isn't necessarily tied to a number then you can give BBM or Wire a look.

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