Yahoo is bidding goodbye to its classic Messenger application for good on August 5, paving the way for the updated version of the platform which was released last year. The news of the axing is surprising only in that it’s startling to learn it’s still around.
At 18 years old, the old Yahoo Messenger is more or less a dinosaur now in the tech world. First launched in 1998 under the incredibly dated name Yahoo! Pager, the platform was very popular across the world. The company has now removed the option of downloading the app from its website.
Post August 5 though, classic Yahoo loyalists who are doggedly refusing to move on to a more modern UI won’t be able to even log in or send messaged through the chat service. In a blog post, the brand said that while it has been providing basic interoperation between the old and the new Messenger so far, it’s now asking consumers to complete the transition to the fresh version.
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The revamped Yahoo Messenger came out in December 2015. With the old platform out of the way, the firm plans to concentrate its efforts on this new-and-improved version. It comes with support for animated GIFs, messages, photos and group chats.
Other than the news of the legacy Messenger’s demise, Yahoo also took the opportunity to announce another termination. The company is planning to end its Yahoo Recommends content discovery tool for third-party websites on September 1. The move is part of its efforts to streamline and simplify its products for its publisher community.
Yahoo hasn’t been doing too well off late, highlighted by news of it letting go 15% of its employees and a major shift in its top brass. The latest development regarding Messenger should help it trim some of the fat in its fight towards survival.