Three months after Google scooped up mobile contact and file-sharing outfit Bump Technologies for an estimated $30 million, the search giant has decided to shutter the once groundbreaking apps that came along with the purchase.
In a blog post on the matter, Bump Technologies co-founder and CEO David Lieb said the Bump team is now deeply focused on new projects within Google and as a result, they’ve decided to discontinue Bump and Flock.
The apps will be removed from the App Store and Google Play on January 31. After this date, neither app will work and all user data will be deleted. Lieb said they’ve taken much care to make sure that users can retain any data within the programs, however.
At any point before the end of the month, users simply need to open either app and follow the instructions for exporting data. Users will then receive an e-mail with a link containing all of the backed up material (photos, videos, contacts, etc.) from each app.
When the acquisition was announced in September, Bump made no promises that the apps would live on indefinitely. The company only said the products would continue to operate “for now.”
Bump first surfaced in early 2009 as a nifty way for smartphone users to share contact information with others simply by physically bumping two handsets together. Similarly, Flock is designed to automatically identify and share photos with friends that you’ve taken photos with and sorts them into a single shared album.
https://www.techspot.com/news/55177-google-will-shut-down-bump-and-flock-on-january-31.html
