Four years. More than 125 million downloads. Some one billion photos sent. And yet, users of Bump and Flock, acquired by Google for $30 million late last year, will soon see their apps cease to function and all their user data deleted.
Bump and Flock were popular file-sharing apps from Bump Technologies, but as Google puts Bump's employees to work on its own projects, Bump's founders announced the Bump and Flock apps will be shut down and removed from the app stores as of Jan. 31.
Of course, no one likes their favorite apps killed--and Bump and Flock were no exception based on the reaction from developers on Twitter.
@TheNextWeb @thekenyeung Oh dear.
— Corey (@CoreyMKimball) January 2, 2014
Bump is being shut down by S̶k̶y̶n̶e̶t̶ Google. Annoyed at this. Their phone-to-pc file transfer site is dead useful. http://t.co/QifXfaUJsa
— Joel Fothergill (@JoelFothergill) January 2, 2014
@JoelFothergill Strange move, most likely to strengthen NFC. Feel sorry for the devs - sounded like they had high hopes of progression.
— Simon Batty (@psysize) January 2, 2014
For those who follow this space, though, such decisions are par for the course.
The joys of acqui-hires... "Google to Discontinue Sharing App Bump and Flock on Jan. 31, 2014" http://t.co/MalTkYn0EP
— Celestino Güemes (@tguemes) January 2, 2014
Some wondered if there was still a viable need for something like Bump or Flock, and whether similar tools would survive.
I didn't use Bump much, and with iOS 7 AirDrop I guess we no longer need it, but I do feel a little sad to see it go. http://t.co/TDDE2Rv2Xt
— Jack Mayfield (@jjm_3) January 2, 2014
http://t.co/dpLfpsmpLN Does the closure of BUMP mark the end of digital business cards?
— David D'Souza (@davidds) January 1, 2014
At least one developer, however, seized the closure of Bump and Flock as a marketing opportunity:
@verge #GLIIF is a #BUMP alternative. See it now or visit http://t.co/JYQFrUgxnP The Contact GLIIF http://t.co/tvNVDBDJsP
— GLIIF (@GLIIF) January 1, 2014
In the end, of course, developers and Bump and Flock users will move on.
The Bump app had a really amazing run. "Google to Discontinue Sharing App Bump and Flock on Jan. 31, 2014" http://t.co/hEXDz3COdI
— Adam Talcott (@adamtalcott) January 2, 2014
Just hurry up and make it a Google app function. http://t.co/h51lrbwzjC
— Kemp Edmonds (@kempedmonds) January 1, 2014