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Google has announced the end of its low-code application development platform App Maker, citing low usage.
Located within Google Cloud’s G Suite, App Maker will continue to work as usual up until 15 April 2020. From this date, users will be unable to create new apps, but existing apps will still be able to be edited and deployed.
This limited functionality will continue until 19 January 2021 when existing apps and data exporting will cease functionality and users will lose access to them.
App Maker data stored in Cloud SQL will remain as-is and will be held according to the policies of the GCP (Google Cloud Platform) account the data is stored in.
In an online post detailing the shutdown, Google provided alternative solutions for app development as App Maker’s source code prevents direct migration to alternative platforms.
For the automation of business processes, AppSheet, an acquisition by Google from mid-January, was recommended, while users interested in developing apps could use Google’s App Engine.
Both of these alternatives use Cloud SQL databases. As App Maker stores data in Cloud SQL, apps can be made with the suggested platforms out of Cloud SQL databases tied to App Maker apps.
If App Maker solutions were used for data collection, Google then recommended using Google Forms instead, as it has gained features that were not available during the initial release of App Maker.
Meanwhile, users who no longer use App Maker apps and wish to fully delete them can do so by first deleting the app in App Maker and then its associated Cloud project.
To prepare for the shutdown, Google has emailed primary administrators within domains a CSV file by Google that details a list of App Maker apps being used by their organisation.
