While you probably haven’t thought about it in years, the first mainstream universal messenger app for the Mac and just about every other platform will finally be completely retired in June 2024.
Owner Mail.ru’s announcement that the messaging program is being discontinued
Owner Mail.ru’s announcement that the messaging program is being discontinued
Twenty-eight years is a long time for an net-based app to survive. For many early internet adopters, ICQ — “I Seek You” — was their introduction to large-scale, real-time social and private chatting.
Launched in November of 1996, it gave users a simpler and more graphical app in order to chat with friends outside of the previous Internet Relay Chat (IRC) system, and an AOL messenger that was still constrained to the eponymous service.
Originally appeared here:
ICQ 1996-2024: The first universal messenger had a good run, and is leaving us soon