Nothing lasts forever, especially in the world of technology. Technologies, services, and CEOs regularly leave, new technologies emerge, and major companies race to maintain their lead. In this report, we review the most important technologies and services that ended in 2023.
January:
Microsoft stops updates for Windows 7 and 8
I have decided Microsoft It stopped security updates for its Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 systems, and recommended that users upgrade to Windows 11 to take advantage of the updates and features.
Snap Inc. shuts down its desktop camera app
The company announced snap chat It will close the desktop camera app that allows users to apply filters – such as cat ears and pirate hats – to video calls. The company did not say why it is abandoning the app, and users will not be able to download or use Snap Camera.
February:
-Amazon shuts down Amazon Smile
I have decided Amazon Amazon Smile is closing to focus its charitable efforts on programs with greater impact. It launched the service in 2013 to make it easier for customers to support their favorite charities. However, after nearly a decade, the program has not grown to have the impact Amazon had hoped. With so many more qualified organizations globally, Amazon Smile’s ability to make an impact was often so weak that it was ultimately discontinued.
March:
– Google is abandoning its glasses
Google announced last March that it would no longer sell Glass Enterprise Edition glasses, and that it would continue to support FAQs about its product until September 15, 2023, as these glasses suffered from a myriad of problems, including short battery life. , privacy concerns, and a high price of up to $1,500 made it unpopular among users.
Lenovo stops its gaming phone business
Lenovo had a strong reputation for gaming smartphones, but in March 2023, the company exited the gaming phone business entirely, it told Android Authority.
The company spokesman said: “Lenovo has stopped producing gaming mobile phones that run on the Android system as part of the comprehensive business transformation process and the integration of the gaming portfolio. As a leader in the field of gaming devices and solutions, we are keen to develop the gaming category across different formats, and focus on areas “That we can provide the most value to the global community of gamers.”
– Meta ends the march of non-fungible tokens on Facebook and Instagram
Meta has decided that it will stop testing the issuance and sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Instagram, in addition to stopping users’ ability to share them on both Facebook and Instagram.
According to the study conducted by Dab Gamble, the vast majority of non-tradable tokens have become worthless. Out of 73,257 blocks, 69,795 of them have a market capitalization of 0 Ethereum (ETH), i.e. $0. This means that 95% of people who own NFT token pools are currently holding worthless investments.
The data revealed a weekly trading value of about $80 million in 2023, or only 3% of its peak in August 2021. This means that 2023 was an unlucky year for holders of non-interchangeable tokens.
April:
-Amazon is ending Amazon Halo
Amazon announced that it will permanently stop support for the Amazon Hello service and is looking for new ideas in order to make its customers happy. But Amazon announced that it will return the full amounts to all its customers who purchased the Halo product during the past 12 months, and in addition, any fees for paid and unused subscriptions will be refunded.
Spotify stops the music guessing game
Music streaming platform Spotify announced that it will close the music guessing game Hurdle, inspired by the word game Wordle, as it seeks to focus on other music discovery goals. The company said: Thank you for the Hurdle game, but unfortunately we have to say goodbye, as as of May 5, Hurdle will no longer be available.
June:
Amazon stops celebrity voices in Alexa
Amazon has decided to stop celebrity voices in Alexa, as customers can no longer purchase voices such as Samuel L. Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal, and others, and Amazon will stop supporting them on Alexa devices.
Amazon did not give a reason for the removal, however, reports of significant revenue losses around the voice assistant and thousands of layoffs by Amazon this year may be the reason.
-Stop Reddit’s Apollo
Apollo, one of the most beloved applications for iPhone users, has been shut down due to the cost of the company’s new API, which will make running the application much more expensive. “Recent decisions and actions taken by Reddit have made it impossible for Apollo to continue,” developer Christian Selig said on a Reddit blog.
Microsoft stops supporting Cortana
Microsoft has discontinued the Cortana application and redirected users to its new features such as Bing Chat Ball and Copilot instead. The closure of Cortana represents the end of Microsoft’s attempt to compete with Siri and Google Assistant in the field of voice assistants and move towards the field of artificial intelligence.
-YouTube Stories no longer exist
Not to be confused with “short videos”, YouTube Stories were launched in 2017 for YouTube users with more than 10,000 subscribers.
Google said that there are many ways to create videos on YouTube, starting from forum posts, to short and long videos, and live videos. To prioritize these key features, Stories will disappear from YouTube.
July:
– Twitter no longer exists and has been replaced by (X)
Billionaire Elon Musk announced a new logo for the social media platform Twitter that features a white “X” on a black background as an alternative to the familiar blue bird symbol.
Musk said he wants to change Twitter’s logo, and polled millions of his followers whether they would prefer to change the site’s color scheme from blue to black. Thus, Twitter’s historic and distinctive name ended, and in 2023 it became X.
– Google abandons Android KitKat 4.4 permanently
Google announced the end of support for Android KitKat 4.4 permanently, about ten years after its launch. Google stated that the number of active devices on KitKat systems is less than 1%, and for this reason it has stopped supporting this system in future versions of Google Play services.
August:
– Meta abandons Messenger Lite
In 2016, Facebook (now meta) launched the Messenger Lite app for older Android devices. Messenger Lite is designed to be light on devices, providing a simple set of features for chatting, and promising to work even on slow or unstable connections.
After seven years, even low-spec Android devices had plenty of storage and memory available to handle better than Lite versions of apps, so Meta shut down Messenger Lite and encouraged people to switch to the full Messenger app.
– Meta ends SMS support in Messenger
Meta announced that Android users who use SMS in Messenger will lose this feature on September 29. The company explained that users will still be able to send and receive short text messages via their cellular network and access the history of these messages through the new default messaging application on their phones.
September:
– Microsoft decided to end the WordPad program
Microsoft has announced that it plans to discontinue the “WordPad” program with a future “Windows” update, 28 years after its launch, although it has not announced a specific timing for the change.
WordPad has been installed by default on Windows computers since the launch of the Windows 95 operating system. The program provides users with a basic word processor and document editor.
– Google cancels support for YouTube Premium Lite
Google announced that it has decided to cancel the “Premium Lite” subscription plan for YouTube, which was priced at 6.99 euros per month, and current “Premium Lite” subscribers will be left with two options: either return to watching YouTube with ads, or subscribe to the more expensive “YouTube Premium.” This decision was implemented on November 25 of last year.
Lightning ports are no longer available on Apple devices
The Lightning ports that were specific to iPhones no longer exist, due to the European Parliament issuing a law that forces all smartphones and tablets to be compatible with charging ports and adopt the Type-C port. As a result, the iPhone 15 AirPod Pro devices were released with USB-C ports, as it will take some time until the Lightning port is completely phased out.
– Google Podcasts application
Google has decided to close the “Google Podcasts” application early in the new year (2024), as the company focuses on collecting podcast listening on YouTube Music. Google Podcast was first launched on Android in 2018.
October:
– Discontinuing the Mint personal finance application
With the start of the new year 2024, users will not be able to use Intuit’s Mint application, as the tool, which was a pioneer in its field, will be discontinued and its users will be transferred to the Credit Karma service.
Although Mint has been one of the best personal financial budget tracking apps on the market, Mint features such as a unified view of financial accounts, transaction tracking, spending reports, cash flow, and net worth estimates will be available on Credit Karma.
Apple stops selling the 13-inch MacBook Pro
Apple has stopped manufacturing MacBook Pro devices with a 13-inch screen size, which were suitable for people with a low budget, as the new MacBook Pro devices will be equipped with a 14-inch screen size with an M3 processor, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro is no longer offered. For sale anymore.
November:
– Apple stops Music Voice service
Apple announced the cancellation of support for the Music Voice feature and merely said: “We are focused on providing the best and most powerful music experience possible for our customers, with features like immersive spatial audio, Apple Music Sing with real-time lyrics, intuitive browsing and discovery features, and more.
– Google stops support for Google Chrome and Google Calendar in Android versions 7 and earlier
Both Google Chrome and the Calendar app will require Android 8 to run. Users of Android 7 Nougat, which is the version of Android 7, will not be able to run either of them. Devices running Android 7 or earlier will begin to see a notification stating that the current Android version is no longer supported and that An upgrade is required to continue using it.
December:
– Bose Frames sunglasses are no longer available
Bose delved into augmented reality glasses in 2018 with Bose Frames, which turned sunglasses into a wearable audio device. Through user reviews, it was found that it provides clear and pure sound through an elegant, classic design, but in the end, Bose decided to give up at the end of 2023 without giving precise details about the reason.
Microsoft discontinues the Windows mixed reality platform
Microsoft has planned to remove the Windows Mixed Reality platform from its operating system in its next version of Windows, and Microsoft believes that the official confirmation that the Mixed Reality platform is on its way out will attract attention and fans will see it as another nail in the coffin of the software giant’s consumer game.
– Hyperloop One closes after failing to reinvent transportation
Hyperloop One is one of the most famous futuristic transportation companies that is building lines surrounded by tubes to transport passengers and goods from one city to another at aircraft-like speeds, according to informed sources. But it spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the years without getting sufficient results, and as a result the company announced that it would close at the end of 2023.
