Google's Latest Spring Cleaning Kills Building Maker, CalDAV API, Snapseed Desktop

Google Reader may be the biggest victim of Google's latest spring cleaning, but it certainly isn't the only one. For the past couple of years, Google has been killing off smaller projects, products and features, to focus on the important stuff.

"We’re living in a new kind of computing environment. Everyone has a device, sometimes multiple devices," Google's Urs Hölzle wrote.

"It’s been a long time since we have had this rate of change—it probably hasn’t happened since the birth of personal computing 40 years ago. To make the most of these opportunities, we need to focus—otherwise we spread ourselves too thin and lack impact," he said.

Google is killing the Google Building Maker, a simple web-based tool which enabled users to create 3D buildings to be used by Google Maps, Earth but which could also be exported.

But Google's Street View technology is now good enough that it doesn't need people creating 3D models for it. Or maybe there weren't that many people using it. Last year, Google sold the SketchUp 3D modeling software used by more advanced modelers.

The Google Voice App for Blackberry is also getting the axe, starting next week. Snapseed Desktop will no longer be updated, that's the Mac and Windows version, the mobile app is still very much alive.

Several APIs are being retired as well. The CalDAV API is being shutdown for most people on September 16, 2013, but some developers will still be able to access it after that date, pending on Google's approval. Google recommends the Calendar API as an alternative.

The Search API for Shopping is also being shut down on September 16, given Google's new direction in shopping, it makes sense.

The Google Cloud Connect tool will be dead as of April 30, Google recommends installing the Drive app as a replacement. Finally, Apps Scripts is killing off GUI Builder and five UiApp widgets.