XChat, X’s standalone messaging app, has disappeared from the App Store and Google Play just a few months after its launch. The app launched as a separate extension of X’s direct messages, it was even presented as a replacement for that feature, although they have remained available in the main app, and now it has simply vanished. This is what we know.
XChat disappears from the two main app stores
According to 9to5Mac, XChat disappeared first from the App Store and, shortly afterward, also from the Google Play Store. The removal, as far as we know, comes directly from the app’s developer, according to a source familiar with the situation, leaving Apple and Google out of the decision.
XChat launched earlier this year as a standalone version of X’s direct messages, a feature that has become more prominent on the platform. It offered one-on-one and group chats, disappearing messages and end-to-end encryption.
Everything points to a change in strategy
X has kept messaging inside its main application all this time, where even today we can still access our conversations. The disappearance of the dedicated XChat app, therefore, fits with a possible streamlining of the service, once again bringing everything back into one app and/or abandoning the possible plans to separate the social network from its messaging side.
If Elon Musk wanted to make X a superapp, one that offered all its services under a single umbrella, the disappearance of XChat makes sense. While we may be left wondering whether it made sense as a dedicated app in the first place, we’ll have to wait to see how the company’s plans evolve to learn more.
