Google has quietly pulled the plug on a feature that was never hugely successful, but had its share of fans. It was a small but significant convenience to be able to share apps right from the Play Store in a world where internet connection is not guaranteed. App sharing debuted in 2021 with the promise of making sharing of essential apps as easy as a tap, where no downloads, no internet was required, just seamless device to device transfer would do the deed.
In 2021, Android users could easily share apps from the Play Store with just the Quick Share option from the app sharing feature. Google Play Store app mentioned that app sharing would soon discontinue and now, it is officially removed. Google has decided to retire it, leaving users wondering why and what are their alternatives?
An Overlooked Feature
The app sharing option was to be found in the Play Store’s ‘Manage apps & devices’ menu under the ‘Nearby Share’ option. Google initially touted it as a feature for users with limited internet access to share apps offline without consuming mobile data or Wi-Fi. Although it had its merits, it never gained power with the users. Many users may not even have known that it existed, and even fewer probably employed it regularly.
There has been no clear explanation on why Google decided to remove Nearby Share for apps in the Play Store. While it may not have been widely employed, the elimination would certainly be a disappointment for those living in remote areas and with limited data access.
Alternative App Sharing Options
For Android users, fortunately, there are other alternative means to share apps without an internet connection. Google’s Nearby Share is a stand-alone app that allows offline sharing, including the transfer of apps, photos, videos, and other files between Android devices. The Files by Google app also fulfills the purpose of offline sharing and helps the users transfer apps and other files. Apart from the apps mentioned above, there are several third-party app sharing options available, such as SHAREit, Xender, Send Anywhere, and Zapya. These methods will still allow any user to share apps, but it certainly has lost that wonderfully integrated and seamless option with the removal of the direct app-sharing feature from the Play Store.
Google’s Retired Features
The story of Google is known by many for shutting down quite a few services, even some that have kept a devoted following. Here are some other recent examples:
- Google Podcasts: Google recently discontinued a stand-alone podcasting app and integrated podcast playback into YouTube Music, although some users liked the idea of a dedicated podcast player, Google chose to merge it with its larger music platform.
- Google Domain: An increasingly popular option among small businesses and individuals, domain registration by Google was sold to Squarespace, leaving the existing users to migrate their domains.
- Google Jamboard: Google shut down its digital whiteboard tool, Jamboard. Despite its growing popularity during the remote work boom, Google decided to retire the service. The company now encourages users to shift to collaboration tools within Google Meet and Google Workspace. This move helps Google streamline its apps and services.
The removal of app-sharing from the Play Store is not likely to be a matter of concern to most users, rather it spells out the continuation of eliminating those features that do not prioritize evolving. It indicates Google’s gradual exercise of pruning services that do not fit within the broader picture. Sure, Nearby Share and other third party apps still work, but when such features are removed from the list it becomes a strangely burning question. This suggests that Google is a company that does not believe in any feature lasting forever, no matter how tiny those features are.
