Yahoo Messenger also is known as Y!M was an online instant messaging service that lets people exchange text, message, send attachments, and place video calls. Dates back, Yahoo Messenger was known as Yahoo! Chat which was a public chat room service launched on March 9, 1998, like Yahoo! Pager later renamed Yahoo Messenger in 1999. The Yahoo Messenger service was entirely shut down on July 17, 2018. So why did Yahoo Messenger shut down? Keep reading to find out why it was terminated.
What is Yahoo Messenger?
Yahoo Messenger is Yahoo’s Instant Messaging service that was launched on March 9, 1998, as Yahoo Pager. It allowed people to chat in real-time, allowed people to share emojis, voice calls, and video calls. Yahoo used Yahoo! Messenger Protocol YMSG that enabled two computers connected over the internet to communicate directly which was launched in the same year 1998.
Although Yahoo messenger is not available anymore, it was one of the most popular IM services.
Yahoo Messenger had 22 million users which was an advertisement-supported IM service.
To access Yahoo Messenger, the user had to have a Yahoo Mail Account. Which is also one of the reasons Yahoo is still one of the most popular Email Service Provider today.
Features of Yahoo Messenger: PC to Phone Calling, PC to PC calls, voicemails, plug-ins, file and media sharing, video calling, chatrooms, avatars, client customizations.
Among these yahoo features, what really made Yahoo Messenger stand apart from other Instant Messenger is the wide range of available plug-ins: weather, finance, music, radio, calendar, and many more. These plugins were very helpful which enhanced the user’s experience of a great instant messaging client.
As for me, Yahoo Messenger was my first Instant Messenger, this might be the case for most of you too. So, with these features, I was amazed why did yahoo messenger shut down which I will be revealing in this article.
Why Did Yahoo Messenger Shut Down?
Yahoo Messenger shut down its service on July 17th, 2018 after a 20-year run. Yahoo didn’t give a reason for shutting down its Instant Messaging service, but it might be due to the competitors they had with many instant messaging apps on the market.
The reason that Yahoo gave on shutting down the Yahoo Instant Messaging service was, the company was focusing on introducing new, and exciting communication tools that would better fit end-user needs.
However, Yahoo is currently beta testing a messaging app called Squirrel which is an invite-only messaging app that could serve as a replacement for those who used Yahoo Messenger.
“There currently isn’t a replacement product available for Yahoo Messenger,” the company writes. “We’re constantly experimenting with new services and apps, one of which is an invite-only group messaging app called Yahoo Squirrel (currently in beta).”
So what for the chats and messages in your Yahoo Messenger?
Yahoo allowed its Messenger users to download their char history on their desktop[1]. If you have a Yahoo Messenger app still installed on your smartphone, Yahoo recommends deleting the app after you’ve downloaded your chat history or anything else that you would like to save.
Shutting down of Yahoo Messenger however does not impact your Yahoo ID, you can still send emails from Yahoo Mail. You yahoo id will continue to work for other Yahoo Services and products.
How to recover Chat History and other Files from Yahoo Messenger?
Although Yahoo Messenger has now shut down, users are able to download their conversation history till the end of November 2018.
Here is how you can download Yahoo Messenger Chat History.
- Go to the Yahoo Messenger download request site. And sign in to your Yahoo Account.
- Now choose your verification method. Then enter the Account Key sent to you.
- Now click Download.
- Next, you will have to enter an email address where you want the file sent to and click the ok button.
- Go to your email and access your Yahoo Messenger Chat History.
Yahoo Messenger Replacements?
There are a lot of apps that you can use instead of Yahoo Messenger like, the Facebook Messenger app, Viber, Skype, WhatsApp, Signal, and many more. However, your replacement depends on what services you require like free voice calls, audio messages, video messages, make video calls from your desktop or your mobile phone, or just calling or sending text messages. Most instant messaging app today offers all of these features. Talking about the messaging app that is close enough to Yahoo Messenger, is Facebook Messenger.
