In case you missed the big news this week (and it was kind of hard to), Google has announced that it’s shutting down Stadia. It was a surprise move (or not) for many, but it also reminds us that Google is known to kill a lot of its products for seemingly no reason. With that in mind, we want to know what recently killed Google products you’re most bummed about.
The death of Stadia came out of nowhere, although it didn’t seem to surprise many. Google has been known to defend its investment in Stadia now and then, especially after it killed Stadia Games last year, signaling that many were not confident in Google’s long-term commitment to the platform.
That said, it’s an unfortunate loss for the gamers who enjoyed Stadia and more so for the developers who were committed to releasing games for it.
We recently learned that Google had reportedly scrapped its plans to release a new Pixelbook, which was said to launch sometime in 2023. It’s been a few years since the last model was released, and now Google doesn’t seem very interested in releasing more first-party Chromebooks. It may not be all bad, though, since there are plenty of great Chromebooks to choose from that would probably cost much less than a comparable Pixelbook 2.
It’s a weird reversal from years ago when the company wanted to focus on Chromebooks while leaving Android tablets in the dust. But now, Google is preparing to launch a Pixel tablet in 2023, showing us where its allegiances lie.
Google Hangouts has been on a slow death spiral for some time as the company attempts to simplify its app selection. Hangouts users are being forced to use Chat, and support will end in November.
Android Auto for phone screens was for users that did not have Android-Auto-compatible car displays, allowing them to use their phones for navigation instead. The service was recently killed in favor of the new Assistant Drive Mode.
Of course, these are just some of the notable products in the Killed by Google graveyard that have died this year or will die soon. Drop a comment on our socials and tell us which products you are most bummed about. And while you’re at it, check out this article from Android Central’s Jerry Hildenbrand explaining why Google kills so many of its projects (he even touches on Stadia).