We are not sad to announce Google is shutting down Nearby Notifications

Three years ago, Google started development of Android Nearby Notifications. On paper, this new feature would be incredibly helpful for people visiting new places, as Android would instantly notify you of interesting information about wherever you happened to be at the time.

However, despite Google’s best intentions, Nearby Notifications became filled with irrelevant or even downright spammy information, which led to — as Google puts it — a “poor user experience.”

As such, on December 6, 2018, Google will shut down the Nearby Notifications service for good.

In its blog post announcing the shutdown, Google says that it tried to fix up Nearby Notifications with tweaks and filtering. Although it made valiant efforts, Google admitted the following:

“[Google has] a very high bar for the quality of content that we deliver to users, especially content that is delivered through notifications. Ultimately, we have determined these notifications did not meet that bar.”

For Android users, all this means is you will no longer get notifications about the mall you’re shopping in, the museum you’re walking by, or the free Wi-Fi in the coffee shop across the street. For developers, this news involves the shut down of some APIs, which you can read more about here.

Meanwhile, Google Pay will likely still notify you incessantly about how you can use your phone to pay for things at the shop you’re standing in.

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