After 20 years, Yahoo Messenger is logging off for the last time.
Anyone who still uses the messaging app, which rose to popularity in the early aughts, has until July 17 before it’ll shut down for good, Yahoo says.
There’s no immediate replacement for the app, but Oath, a unit of Verizon that operates Yahoo, pointed users to its new invite-only messaging app, called Squirrel.
After 20 years, Yahoo Messenger is logging off for the last time. Yahoo announced on Thursday that it’s ending the service to focus ‘on building…new, exciting communications tools’
Yahoo Messenger was considered an industry pioneer in chat software, serving as a home for many internet users alongside the now-defunct AOL Instant Messenger.
‘Yahoo Messenger will no longer be supported after July 17, 2018. Until then, you can continue to use the service normally,’ Yahoo said in a statement.
‘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,’ the firm added.
Yahoo said in a statement that users can download their chat history from the firm’s website.
After July 17, users won’t be able to log into the Yahoo Messenger app on either their phone or computer.
Yahoo Messenger was considered an industry pioneer in chat software, serving as a home for many internet users alongside the now-defunct AOL Instant Messenger
There’s no immediate replacement for the app, but Oath, a unit of Verizon that operates Yahoo, pointed users to its new invite-only messaging app, called Squirrel
It won’t affect your Yahoo ID, however.
Distraught Yahoo Messenger users can either move on to one of the more modern counterparts or sign up to use Oath’s Slack-like chat service, called Squirrel.
The app, which was announced in May, is only in private beta for right now and reportedly focuses on families.
It’ll have features like rooms for specific topics, the ability to ‘blast’ important messages so everyone can see them and a feature that mutes notifications for specific rooms.
But some are still having a hard time letting go of Yahoo’s OG chat app.
One Twitter user said they even met their wife while using Yahoo Messenger.
Since Yahoo Messenger’s heyday, it has fallen into obscurity, largely at the hands of apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat.
Many were surprised to learn that Yahoo Messenger is still in operation after all these years.
Yahoo introduced the Messenger app in 1998, one year after AOL launched its AIM messenger service.
It was originally launched under the name Yahoo! Pager, but was later rebranded under the Messenger title.
Yahoo introduced the Messenger app in 1998, one year after AOL launched its AIM messenger service. It was originally launched under the name Yahoo! Pager but later rebranded
Like AIM, it had some what are now considered to be pretty retro features, including ‘IMVironments,’ which let users customize their instant messenger windows around cartoon characters like Dilbert and Garfield.
Yahoo Messenger also let users add custom avatars, away messengers and music tones for notifications. But perhaps the most popular feature were the chat rooms.
It was reborn as an app in December 2015, but unsurprisingly, it didn’t take off like other chat apps.
Yahoo Messenger currently ranks at 160 on iOS and 117 on Android, marking a fall from grace when it was the messenger service of choice for 2000s tweens.