20 tech products from Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and others that were killed in 2022

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Like every year, the year 2022 has also seen several technologies and products die or set. The list includes some tech products that dominated for over a decade and some that were seen as big bets when they launched. Here are 20 such tech products that went into the dark this year from Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Facebook, and more.

120

iPod touch

Since its introduction over 20 years ago, the iPod has captivated users all over the world. In May this year, Apple announced that the iPhone-iPod hybrid device will no longer be available after all stocks are sold out. The move marked the end not only for the portable device, but also for the iPod product line. The announcement also marked the end of one of the tech industry’s most popular and influential devices.

220

Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)

After more than 25 years, Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) officially retired and is no longer supported in June of this year. “But the web has evolved and so have browsers. Internet Explorer’s incremental improvements couldn’t match the general improvements to the web overall, so we started fresh. Microsoft Edge is a faster, more secure, modern browser, the best Windows browser designed for today’s Internet,” the company said, explaining the disappearance.

320

Apple iCloud Data and Documents service

Introduced in 2014, iCloud Documents and Data was a system that automatically synced data from different apps and made it available across devices. Earlier this year, Apple discontinued this service and it’s now part of iCloud Drive. As the company explains, iCloud Drive lets you easily store, access, and share files with friends and family. Documents stored in iCloud Drive stay up to date across all your devices and you can access them from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC.

420

YouTubeGo application

YouTube Go closed in August this year. The lightweight Android app first launched in 2016 and featured offline viewing and nearby sharing. Like other apps designed for emerging markets, YouTube Go included a suite of features focused on data costs, poor signal strength, and the prevalent use of SD cards on Android devices. YouTube Go was first launched in India and later became available in over 130 countries across the globe.

520

Google Stadia

Google has pulled the plug on its Stadia cloud gaming service. The service will remain active for players until January 18, 2023. Google will refund all Stadia hardware purchased through the Google Store, as well as all games and add-ons purchased from the Stadia store. A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia Vice President of Stadia and GM Phil Harrison said in a blog post. And while Stadia’s approach to consumer game streaming has been built on a strong technological foundation, it hasn’t gotten the traction with the users we expected, so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin shutting down our streaming service. Stadia, he added.

620

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts, the text, video and voice chat app built into Gmail, was finally shut down this year. Google has moved Hangouts users to Google Chat, the Slack-like instant messaging app for business. As of November 1, the Google Hangouts web app is no longer available. Hangouts has a slow death, with Google allowing users to migrate to Chat in 2021.

720

Amazon Food India

Amazon has announced that it will close its food delivery business in India this year. The company has exited the $20 billion vertical it entered less than three years ago. Amazon launched Food in India in May 2020 in parts of Bangalore. The company later expanded the service across the city, tying into other restaurants, but never heavily promoted or marketed the platform.

820

Game on Facebook

Just over two years after its launch, Facebook shut down the Facebook Gaming app in October 2022. The app is no longer available on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Despite this news, our mission to connect gamers, fans and creators with the games they love hasn’t changed, and you’ll still be able to find your games, streamers and groups when you visit the Gaming in Facebook app, the company said. We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of you for all you have done to build a thriving community for gamers and fans since the launch of this app.

920

Smart meta portal displays

Meta has stopped all development of its smart displays and fledgling smartwatch project this year. Company executives reportedly told employees at a town hall meeting that they were ending work on Portal. Meta was selling Portal to consumers, and the device saw a surge in sales during the height of the pandemic. However, the company changed its strategy in June and decided to sell them to businesses instead, a move that reportedly backfired. Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth reportedly told employees at the meeting, “It was going to take so much time and so much investment to get into the enterprise segment, it felt like the wrong way to invest time and money.”

1020

Live shopping on Facebook

Facebook shut down its live shopping feature on Oct. 1 to shift its focus to Reels, the company announced in a blog post. After this date, it will no longer be possible to host new or scheduled live shopping events on Facebook, the company said. The social media network notes that you’ll still be able to use Facebook Live to broadcast live events, but you won’t be able to create product playlists or tag products in your Facebook Live videos. The feature was designed to give creators a platform to sell items, connect with viewers, and potentially acquire new customers. Facebook is now moving away from live video shopping to focus on Reels.

1120

Instagram IGTV

Instagram ended support for its standalone IGTV app this year. In a blog post, the company explained that the change is part of its efforts to make videos as easy to discover and create as possible. Instagram says it will now focus on having all video on its main app, and will continue to streamline and improve video in the main Instagram app over the next few months.

1220

Instagram Hyperlapse and Boomerang apps

Instagram has pulled two of its old apps from app stores. This includes its timelapse video app Hyperlapse, which first launched in 2014, and its looping video app Boomerang, which launched in 2015.

1320

Devices with BlackBerry operating system

It was finally sunset time for BlackBerry OS devices. Unsurprisingly, they’ve been in decline for more than a decade.

1420

Google currents

Google has announced it will close Currents, which was introduced in 2019 as a replacement for Google Plus for G Suite. In a blog post, the company said it’s planning to shut down Currents and that it will push people who were using it to Spaces, which is kind of Google Chat’s version of a Slack channel or Discord room. He added that he’s making the change so users don’t have to work in a separate, isolated destination, but will be using Chat and Spaces, which will soon be prominently integrated into Gmail.

1520

Android Auto for your phone screen

Google said goodbye to Android Auto for phone screens this year. “Google Assistant Driving Mode is our next evolution of the mobile driving experience. For people using Android Auto in supported vehicles, that experience won’t go away. For those using the experience on their phone ( Android Auto mobile app), will be switched to Google Assistant driving mode. Starting with Android 12, Google Assistant driving mode will be the integrated mobile driving experience. At this time, we have no further details from share,” Google said.

1620

Xbox services on Windows Phone

For those few still playing Xbox games on a Windows Phone in 2022, the fun ended in May of this year.

1720

Amazon books

Amazon has decided to close many of its physical and pop-up stores. The company plans to close all 68 branded stores across the US and UK for the day and instead turn its focus to groceries and department stores.

1820

Intel Optane memory

Intel has announced that it intends to discontinue future development of its Optane products. While we believe Optane is an excellent technology, it has become impractical to deliver products on the scale needed as a single-source provider of Optane technology, Intel announced. The company, however, added that it is committed to supporting Optane customers and ecosystem partners through the transition of our existing memory and storage product lines through end-of-life. We continue to sell existing Optane products and the support and 5-year warranty terms from date of sale remain unchanged.

1920

Amazon CloudCam

As Amazon turned its attention to new acquisitions like Ring and Blink, the company pulled the plug on its five-year-old Cloud Cam.

2020

Google Duplex on the web

A web-based offshoot of the mobile-based product that uses AI to make phone calls for you, Google Duplex on the Web used the same technology to do things like buy movie tickets. There is little doubt that he has not succeeded much.

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