What you need to know
- Ring is getting rid of its Ring - Always Home desktop app.
- The app dies on October 15, 2021.
- Ring is going the PWA route to offset the loss.
Are you a fan of the Ring - Always Home desktop app? Do you enjoy its functionalities and utility? Well, bad news: That app is getting discontinued on October 15, 2021, and not in a soft capacity that will still allow you to use it. No, it's getting completely wiped out. When October 15 rolls around, all users will be logged out of the app forever, never to see it again.
However, all is not lost. In the same announcement post wherein Ring detailed the death of the desktop app, it also outlined how ring.com will fill the soon-to-be-formed gap in services (thanks, Bart W!). "Key features from the desktop app are available on ring.com, including Live View (launching August 19, 2021) and browser notifications (launching August 26, 2021)," the announcement post declares. In short, Ring is going the PWA (progressive web app) route.
You can stick with the desktop app until the middle of October if you truly want, but be ready to be kicked out when the time comes. Additionally, these features won't be supported in the gap period between now and the app's demise:
- Video Doorbell Wired
- Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2
- Ring Video Doorbell 4
- Video end-to-end encryption
- Amazon account linking
- Geofence
This development is creeping up all over the web. PWAs are slowly taking over, site by site, app by app. For example, the official Twitter app for Windows 10 is now a PWA. Once Twitter's received an update, you know everyone else won't be far behind.
