Google’s Graveyard: The Apps, Gadgets, and Services It’s Buried

Google’s long list of discontinued products is almost a tradition at this point. The company is quick to launch something new and just as quick to pull the plug when it no longer fits their plans. For users, it’s a running reminder: nothing in the Google ecosystem stays around forever. Here’s a look at what’s been left behind.

Google Keep on Apple Watch

If you liked scribbling the grocery list on your wrist, bad news: Google pulled Keep from Apple Watch in February 2023. The app lets you view and check off notes from the watch, but apparently, Google decided your phone could handle that workload alone.

Google Assistant for Gemini

Gemini came along and promptly gave Google Assistant its retirement papers in June 2024. Assistant's voicey, helpful personality couldn't keep up with Google's thirst for AI-powered chatbots. If you miss telling Assistant to set timers, Gemini will gladly oblige, but with way more intelligence and attitude than Assistant ever had.

Extra Search Box Gets the Boot

It turns out no one needed two search boxes on the same results page. Google yanked this experiment in May 2024, admitting it wasn't helping anyone search faster. One box is plenty: less clutter, less confusion, and fewer weirdly meta moments of searching how to search.

Goodbye, Chromecast

Chromecast helped turn ordinary TVs into streaming hubs starting in 2013, but Google called it quits on the original dongles in April 2024. With smart TVs now standard, the need for extra hardware faded. Google’s shift means fewer devices plugged in, and Chromecast’s era comes to a quiet close.

No More Annotating Search Results

Google realized no one really wanted to leave digital sticky notes all over the internet, so it ended the little experiment of letting people scribble notes on search results. Fun idea, but it never caught on outside of productivity nerd circles and the extremely online.

Stack App Folds for Good

Stack, Google's PDF organizer, packed up in September 2023. It scanned, sorted, and stored documents like receipts and bills, but never gained much traction beyond the super-organized. The organization shut it down with a shrug. Another niche app is gone, leaving PDFs everywhere slightly less tidy than before.

So Long, Infinite Scroll on Search

Scrolling forever felt endless for a reason. In June 2024, Google said goodbye to infinite scroll on desktop and mobile. Now it's back to good old-fashioned pages. It worked fine for two decades, after all. More clicks, sure, but somehow it feels like the internet again.

Maps Loses Its Messages

Google Maps removed its "message a business" feature in July 2024. From July 15, users could no longer start new chats. By July 31, all existing message threads disappeared, and businesses lost access to both chat and call history. With so many alternative ways to connect, this feature quietly reached its end.

Google Fit API Gets Cut Off

Health apps relying on Google Fit's APIs got the bad news in June 2024: developer access is ending. It once helped track steps, heart rates, and workouts. Now, third-party apps need other options. Google's shifting focus, leaving fitness developers to jog elsewhere for data connections.

Google One VPN Shuts Down

Privacy-minded users waved goodbye to Google One VPN in June 2024. It offered basic protection but couldn't stand out in a crowded VPN market. The company says Pixel users still get the same perks elsewhere. For everyone else, it's back to the endless hunt for reliable internet cloaking.

Google Podcasts on Borrowed Time

July 2024 marks the practical end for Google Podcasts, though a few stragglers may still access it briefly. Google's been steering listeners toward YouTube Music for months. Podcasts were simple, free, and fine, but never famous. Its quiet exit won't cause much noise in the streaming world.

Cache Links Officially Gone

Google Search cache links, a handy trick for peeking at older site versions, disappeared in June 2024. Fewer people use them these days, so Google pulled the plug. The feature started in the '90s and slowly became irrelevant. It's one more thing future searchers won't recognize.

Assistant Driving Mode Hits the Brakes

The Assistant Driving Mode was supposed to make using your phone safer behind the wheel, but few people seemed to notice it existed. Maps and Android Auto handle navigation better anyway. Another Google experiment ran out of gas before going far.

Google Domains Shuts Down

Google Domains, the company’s domain registration service, stopped taking new registrations in 2023. By June 2024, all existing domains had been transferred to Squarespace. The shutdown ended Google’s foray into the domain registrar space, leaving longtime users to manage their sites elsewhere.

Google Pay Merges Into Wallet

Google merged Pay into Wallet in 2024, rolling payments, cards, and passes into one app. Instead of juggling two similar services, users now manage everything in Wallet. The move aimed at cutting out overlap and making the system less confusing. Now, all digital payments run through a single, simpler app.