Google+ APIs May Start Failing As Early As Next Month

Very few will probably mourn the loss of Google+. Some might be even more surprised to hear it was still in operation after all these years. Google, however, probably couldn't be rid of it fast enough because of how it has become an albatross around its neck. It has already pushed the shutdown of the service a month in advance but even before that, it will be shutting down the APIs that apps may still be using, surprisingly. In fact, those apps and API may start failing in January, which could make Google+'s death even more inglorious than it already is.

Google+ never really took off as a social network. Despite Google's name on it, the difficulty in migrating social circles, the lack and slow development of exciting features, and the rather geeky aura exuded made it less attractive to the Facebook and Twitter crowds. Unsurprisingly, it was exactly because of those that it became a social hub for Google-centric developer communities and apps.

That is mostly where it got its traffic from. Communities around Google products, including Android apps, have mostly used it for discussions and announcements. Google+ was also intricately tied to the Google Play Store in various ways. In other words, even if you didn't use it actively, your information may have already been compromised anyway.

So Google+'s shutdown couldn't really come sooner. Although its public side won't be going dark until April next year, the APIs that developers and apps use will shut down on March 7, 2019. Google, however, makes a big warning that some may even start failing as early as January 28, 2019.

The biggest headache for users and developers might be the Google+ sign-in feature. It was Google's single sign-on feature before it started using the more generic Google account, which means some legacy apps and services might still be depending on it. Hopefully, they've all gotten the memo by now.