R.I.P Yahoo Messenger: the service will be discontinued on July

Yahoo instant messaging app will be discontinued after two decades

Yahoo Messenger will be discontinued on July

Yahoo Messenger[1] will no longer be supported after July 17th. After 20 years of service, the company announced that it's time to move on based on the audience's needs. However, they gave users a little bit of time to say goodbye to the messenger. However, after July 17th, they no longer have access to their chats and Messenger, as a whole, will be shut down for good.

Yahoo released a statement regarding their decision to discontinue Yahoo Messenger on the 8th of June. The company wants to evolve together with their users. People were loyal through all of these years, and the ones who grow up with the app started to grow old together.

We know we have many loyal fans who have used Yahoo Messenger since its beginning as one of the first chat apps of its kind. As the communications landscape continues to change over, we're focusing on building and introducing new, exciting communications tools that better fit consumer needs. Yahoo said that people will be able to download their chat history from the platform.

Yahoo lets Messenger users download their chat history during the six months time. In order to do so, people have to access and login to the download request site and get their messages sent to their email.

Two decades of users’ loyalty kept Yahoo Messenger on top

Yahoo Messenger is available since 1998. Back then it was one of the novelty apps that let people reached their friends, family, and other contacts while being away from each other. After a decade, in 2009[2], this free instant messaging app appeared on the iOS App Store. This gave the ability to reach your contacts while being away from your computer.

Many people are still using this communication app. However, throughout the years there were a lot of similar apps created. People use Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Skype and many other programs daily. Thus, current users have plenty of choices to communicate online.

Yahoo Messenger was one of the first apps that brought emojis[3] for us. Now, these little yellow things with emotions and feelings are everywhere. Things, clothes, and even bodies. Yahoo Messenger probably brought a lot of people together and kept them connected. This is why user loyalty is one of the things company is proud of.

Oath kills two instant messaging apps not even in a year and releases a new one

Yahoo's parent company Oath[4] already discontinued AOL instant messenger (AIM) ant the end of 2017[5]. That app also lasted online for 20 years. People are disappointed because these events were unexpected and unwanted:

first AIM, and now this? How will I chat with my buddies and meet new people?

However, the company decided to move on with their products. Because of the love and respect for their clients, Yahoo stated that people would be able to download their chat archives for the next six months.

Although, the company says there is no replacement for Yahoo Messenger, but they already introduced people with Yahoo Squirrel. This app is in testing mode, and it is an invite-only messenger. This looks similar to other chat applications, and it might be the newest generation of old-school Yahoo Messenger. Maybe company wanted to have something new, but similar in a way that people loved for years, but do no competition between two of their products.

About the author
Olivia Morelli
Olivia Morelli - PC & Mac repair expert

Olivia Morelli is a young, but a perspicacious IT expert who is currently just a year away from a Bachelor’s Degree in Software Systems. Her primary passion is cyber security, however, thanks to her detailed understanding of computer networks, operating systems and hardware, she can find a fix for any PC or Mac issue...

Contact Olivia Morelli
About the company Esolutions

References