Yahoo's old chat service will be permanently retired on July 17, 2018.
With Facebook Messenger, WhatApp and Google Hangouts, users have gradually changed their online chat practices, leaving behind old instant chat apps like MSN, AOL Instant Messenger or Yahoo Messenger. After the closure of the AOL service, Yahoo Messenger will also be permanently disconnected on July 17th.
To be honest, it must be said that almost everyone had forgotten the existence of Yahoo Messenger, despite its twenty years of service (the service was launched in March 1998). It is even surprising that he had such a longevity. Because if on the one hand Yahoo Messenger has struggled to fight the competition of instant messengers more modern - despite a presence on smartphone and some modern innovations - it is especially surprising that the application was able to survive the decline of the former giant, his legal difficulties and his restructuring.
On its help page announcing the closure (link in English), Yahoo recognizes half-word that its service is out of date. Yahoo says it wants to focus on "building new communication tools" and invites users to download their conversation history as long as they can. If no alternative is offered, Yahoo nevertheless offers to download Squirrel (link in English), their new group chat application.
