It's curtains for Google Shopping app; another Google app bites the dust

Like the Google Plus, and Hangout apps, Google Shopping mobile app will be retired in the coming months.

Everyone knows Google has a huge cash pile and it always experiments to improve user experience online and hardware such as phones and PCs. It usually comes up with its own proprietary applications and sometimes takes inspiration from rival brands and puts a spin on its version.

One such of many apps was Google Shopping. In India, it was launched in late 2018. Truth be told, there was no mobile app in the country, but it was integrated as a tab in Search results and has also been accessible also on a separate website.

Google Shopping is a made-to-browse e-commerce platform for prospective buyers to search across multiple product categories. Consumers also had the option to look for particular items from thousands of retailers.

Also, it offered separate sections such as price drops, top deals, and a collection of the most popular products on Google. It competed with established players such as Amazon, Walmart-owned Flipkart, Snapdeal, and other e-commerce companies.

But, now reports are coming that the company is planning to shut down the Shopping app for mobiles. Experts at XDA Developer Forum first broke the news when they analyzed the code of the v59 of the Google Shopping APK (Android Package), which mentions 'sunset'. The latter is used to indicate the app will no longer available after a specific date.

Unfortunately, the news is true as Google has confirmed to the media that it is closing the Shopping app for mobiles (both Android and iOS) in June. On the bright side, the website version (here) will continue to be active and it plans to add new features to enhance the shopping experience.

“Within the next few weeks, we’ll no longer be supporting the Shopping app. All of the functionality the app offered users is available on the Shopping tab. We’ll continue building features within the Shopping tab and other Google surfaces, including the Google app, that makes it easy for people to discover and shop for the products they love,” Google Spokesperson said to DH

With the announcement, Google Shopping joins the growing list of Google's flop apps including Google Plus (competitor to Facebook, Twitter), Hangouts ( competed with Apple Message, WhatsApp, Telegram) among others.

However, Google's Stack, which competes with CamScanner, looks promising. Developed by the company's in-house tech incubator Area 120, it uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm to understand the types of bills and categorize them accordingly for easy access in the future.

Users just have to take a photo of the document and Stack will scan it, automatically name it for the user, and suggest the right category termed as 'stack,'-- such as a receipt, vehicle, IDs and Bills— for the user to store it in.

Must read | Google's Area 120 brings AI-based document scanner app Stack

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