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ICQ, one of the oldest text-based chat programs on the internet, will officially shut down on June 26 of this year, as announced on the app's official website.
Well-known to those who communicated online in the late 1990s, the service remained active but received only sporadic updates, such as video call features and end-to-end encryption.
The announcement does not explain why the app is being shut down, but the decision is understandable, given that ICQ never regained the popularity it enjoyed during its golden age.
In 2010, ICQ was sold to the Russian conglomerate VK. The company will now direct its few remaining users to its own more popular services, such as VK Messenger for casual chats and VK WorkSpace for business use.
ICQ's Remarkable History on the Internet
ICQ was launched in 1996, developed by the small Israeli company Mirabilis. The name is an acronym that stands for the phrase “I seek you.”.
The app stood out for features such as the ability to send messages to contacts who were offline, the distinctive sound for new messages, and integration with SMS. In addition, it allowed users to add people using a nine-digit numeric code, rather than a name or email address.
ICQ quickly became one of the most popular digital chat options, reaching 100 million users—an impressive number for that time. However, it began to lose popularity in the second half of the 2000s, especially with the rise of MSN Messenger (later Windows Live Messenger).
Last year, ICQ was blocked in Brazil after a Federal Police investigation revealed that the software was being used to disseminate videos and images of sexual violence against minors.