Microsoft to Shut Down Sunrise App on August 31

In a blog post, Microsoft said it’ll no longer be supporting the application with new features or bug fixes.

So, it’s been confirmed today that, as of August 31 the Sunrise app will stop working.

A wave of dread washed over fans of Sunrise Calendar when it was acquired my Microsoft in 2015, and indeed that dread was justified.

Of course, the app will continue to work, but it won’t get updated after August 31, and it won’t be available through the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store. Half a year ago, when the Redmond giant revamped its Outlook app for iOS and Android, integrating the features of Sunrise and Acompli, the company had indicated that the parent apps would eventually see a dawn. The reason they can’t support Sunrise is that they’re too busy incorporating the features and capabilities that make Sunrise awesome into the Outlook app.

Not to suggest it’s easy to fold an app into an existing product or service, and do so in a way that doesn’t betray what made that app popular in the first place, and alienate its existing user base.

The history of great mobile apps is punctuated with cases where developers have caught the attention of big companies and found themselves getting acquired, and it’s common that the software which garnered that interest to be sidelined along the way.

According to the Sunrise blog post, that is exactly what they plan to do.

“The entire Sunrise team is now working side-by-side with the Outlook team and it’s a thrilling moment for us to work on an app of this scale”.