Yahoo Messenger is Shutting Down

The venerable Yahoo Messenger is shutting down on July 17, as corporate parent Oath figures out how to offer a product that can compete with WhatsApp, Snapchat, WeChat and a host of other messaging apps.

Oath announced Yahoo Messenger’s demise Saturday.

“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,” the company said. “As the communications landscape continues to change over, we’re focusing on building and introducing new, exciting communications tools that better fit consumer needs.”

For now, Yahoo isn’t offering a replacement for Messenger, which attracted millions of users over the past two decades. As with many of the internet pioneer’s products, Messenger was ahead of its time when the product launched, but eventually was eclipsed rivals.

Yahoo is directing users to a group messaging app called Yahoo Squirrel, which is currently in test mode. The tech news site Gizmodo described Squirrel as Slack for friends and family. Users need to request an invitation to join the Beta.