Bump, Flock apps to be discontinued

Google will bin the popular apps Bump and Flock at the end of January, just months after buying them in a deal worth tens of millions of dollars.

Smartphone file-sharing apps Bump and Flock will be discontinued by Google at the end of January.

The tech giant bought the startup behind the apps in September in a deal reportedly worth between $US30 million ($A33.83 million) and $US60 million.

"We are now deeply focused on our new projects within Google, and we've decided to discontinue Bump and Flock," Bump co-founder and chief executive David Lieb wrote in a blog post late Tuesday.

On January 31, Bump and Flock will be removed from both the App Store and Google Play, after which neither app will work and all user data will be deleted.

Over the coming weeks, users can export their data by opening either app and following instructions. They will then receive an email with a link containing their photos, videos, contacts and other data.

"In many ways, Bump was a revolutionary product that inspired many subsequent advances and helped push the world forward," Lieb wrote. "We hope our new creations at Google will do the same."

The Bump application lets smartphone users easily share data by gently knocking knuckles while holding devices.

Flock software taps into smartphone location-sensing technology to note when friends are in proximity of one another and lets them contribute to sets of photos reflecting shared experiences such as a concerts or sporting events.


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Source: AAP


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