It’s no secret that Google loves to launch new products, only to unceremoniously discontinue support years down the road. “Google Graveyard” has become shorthand for a reason, and lately, the company’s been on another killing streak. With so many products in the ground, it’s no surprise that some in the tech world have been calling it quits on trusting the brand. After all, a lot of good apps have died lately.
The most recent big one, of course, was Google Podcasts. As a self-described podcast aficionado, I never thought much of Google’s offering. It had its advantages, of course — the ability to sync with devices like the Nest Hub was pretty neat — but I found that, for such a basic application, it was just too slow to gain new features in any meaningful way. Despite launching in 2018 for Android, it was only in the last days of 2020 that Podcasts even got support for adding custom RSS feeds, the absolute bedrock of podcasting. Who does Google think it is, Spotify?
Well, yes, because YouTube Music is serving as a replacement for Google Podcasts, and frankly, I find that pretty disappointing. For as lackluster as I found Podcasts, I appreciated the company’s attempt to follow the traditional model of separating podcast episodes from a music library, something that couldn’t be said for Spotify. And while YouTube Music is no doubt a more open platform than its closest rival — you can actually add custom RSS in YouTube Music, for one — it still feels more like a play to monetize podcasts than to actually provide an excellent user experience.
Of course, Podcasts is far from the only app Google has killed lately; hell, it’s not even the most recent. This week, we learned Google plans to discontinue its One VPN because, in the company’s own words, no one is using it. Meanwhile, Nest Secure and DropCam finally went offline this week, leaving users less than a month to claim a replacement from ADT. Google’s also come for some smaller apps: Keen, a Pinterest clone I didn’t know existed, shut down late last month, while Jamboard’s hardware and software will be discontinued by the end of 2024.
Here’s what Google killed in 2023
All the consumer services Google pried from our hands this year
And that’s just recent announcements — the farther back you go, the worse it looks for Google. What I’m curious about, however, is how years and years of discontinued apps have affected the AP readership’s trust in the company. Especially as Google looks to move ever deeper into new AI platforms — guess what we’re going to hear all about come I/O in a month — the apparent lack of trust in whatever this company is working on is bound to affect its apps at some point.
So, do you still trust Google’s services to stick around? It’s a complicated question, but I’ve given four basic responses that should cover a lot of ground for most readers. Whether you’re still excited to live life on the cutting edge, no matter the risk, or you’ve fully given up on whatever Google has cooking behind the scenes, let us know. And hey, if you have a more complex response, make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments.
