Messengers

Instant messengers and chat networks that logged off: ICQ, AIM, MSN, Yahoo Messenger and their successors.

15 projects

Skype The app that made calling the world free 2003–2025 Messengers ICQ The messenger that gave you a number 1996–2024 Messengers Omegle Talk to strangers, for fourteen years, until it could not be made safe 2009–2023 Messengers Google Hangouts One messenger to rule them all, briefly 2013–2022 Messengers Google Duo Google's FaceTime, launched with a Knock Knock, folded into Meet after six years 2016–2022 Messengers BlackBerry Messenger BBM: PINs, the D and the R, the messenger that made the BlackBerry, licensed to an Indonesian company and closed in 2019 2005–2019 Messengers Google Allo Google's WhatsApp that wasn't 2016–2019 Messengers HipChat The team chat that was there before Slack, bought by Atlassian, renamed Stride, and then sold to Slack to be switched off 2010–2019 Messengers Yahoo Messenger Booted from the chat room one last time 1998–2018 Messengers AIM Away messages and slammed doors 1997–2017 Messengers Google Talk Gchat, the messenger inside your inbox 2005–2017 Messengers Google Spaces Google's small-group sharing app that lived for eleven months, which was short even for Google 2016–2017 Messengers MSN Messenger The sound of nudges after school 1999–2014 Messengers Meebo Every messenger, in one browser tab 2005–2012 Messengers Microsoft Comic Chat The IRC client that drew your conversation as a comic strip, shipped with Internet Explorer 3 in 1996 and open-sourced thirty years later 1996–2001 Messengers