Another one bites the dust — Google Latitude dies August 9th
It’s been a real sorrowful time for those who enjoy several of Google’s services. Google Reader died, offline maps was taken out of the new Google Maps update, and now another nice service is going six feet under soon. Google has announced that Google Latitude will cease to exist beginning August 9th. So what does this mean for those who use it?
- You’ll no longer be able to share your location using Latitude after August 9th.
- Latitude isn’t included as a feature in the latest version of Google Maps for mobile on Android. (Our iOS brethren will get the same treatment.)
- Your list of friends on Latitude will be deleted. You won’t be able to see or manage friends. Friends will no longer see your location in Google Maps for mobile on Android, Latitude for iPhone, the public badge, the iGoogle Gadget, and the Latitude website at maps.google.com/latitude.
It’s gone. Poof. Just like that. We imagine this has something to do with Google wanting you to use the location sharing feature in Google+ more than anything. It’s a viable alternative, but it would rely on you and your friends both using Google+, and we imagine that’s not something a lot of people are happy about.
It really is a shame that all these great Google services are taking a backseat to Google+, and although Google will ever admit that is their goal we are going to continue to assume that’s what it is until we are afforded a proper explanation. Set your calendars, and reset your counters to see how long it will take for your next favorite service to eventually bite the dust.
[via Google]