Spaces was a proprietary cross-platform application for group discussions and messaging developed by Google. The app was intended to compete with Slack as a content sharing platform where users can create a "space", invite their friends for discussion, and share videos, images, text, and other media. Google services such as the web browser Chrome, search engine Google Search, and video sharing platform YouTube were built into the app to allow users to source content from them. Launched on May 16, 2016, it was available to download on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS operating systems.On February 24, 2017, Google announced Spaces would be discontinued on April 17, 2017.HistoryOn May 16, 2016, product director Luke Wroblewski announced the launch of Spaces, "a tool for small group sharing".The app was available on Google Play on May 17, 2016, for Android devices running Android 4.1 or higher.On March 3rd, starting from then, Spaces announced you can only print, view and delete spaces.In February 2017, Spaces announced it would transfer to a read only mode prior to shutting down fully on April 17th.FeaturesSpaces allowed group chatting and messaging between users. Users initiated conversations by creating a 'space' and then inviting friends to join. Once inside a 'space', there was a box at the bottom of the screen where one could tap buttons to post links and images and other content to the chat room. A conversational view let users see what the group was talking about.
