Skip to main content

It's curtains for Google-owned mobile app prototyping tool Pixate

pixate to close screen shot 2016 10 06 at 11 47 am
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Pixate was founded, acquired, and ultimately shuttered in just four years — such is the life cycle of some 21st-century startups. On October 31, the Google-owned mobile app prototyping tool will be bidding users adieu for good. In a blog post published earlier this week, Pixate announced that it would be “saying goodbye,” just a year after joining Google as one of the tech behemoth’s many acquisitions.

The Y Combinator-backed startup first appeared on the scene in 2012, “with the goal to make designing and prototyping native mobile applications easy and more accessible,” the company’s CEO Paul Colton wrote last year. And while the team notes that it has “been fortunate enough to see Pixate improve the prototyping process for a wide range of teams, bringing life to creative ideas,” it looks like the sun is nevertheless setting on the company. 

Recommended Videos

Noting that many of its ideas might make “a larger impact if we move beyond [Pixate’s] scope,” the Google-owned venture says that it is shutting down in order to “focus on our broader vision.” But this isn’t goodbye forever, but rather just for now, as Pixate promises to be back soon with “exciting new projects.”

That said, if you’re a current Pixate user, how will this all affect you? As per the company’s blog post, if you’re using Pixate Cloud, export all prototypes you want to keep before Halloween, October 31. Moreover, Pixate Studio will no longer be available for public download — this is your last chance to get it for OS X and Windows. No further updates to the software will be made, but Pixate notes, “you can of course keep using it for as long as you like.” And although the Pixate Community will stay alive, users will have to manage on their own without any direct support from the team.

“To everyone who supported Pixate, thank you all for your passion and creativity — it’s what drove us to create Pixate in the first place,” the short-lived startup concluded. “Your love and support along the way inspired us to focus on big, exciting problems, which will guide and drive us in our new endeavors.”

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Google Pixel 9a: everything we know so far
Pixel 9a 5K render.

Though there are many Android phones on the market, Google offers some of the best with its Pixel line of devices. Why? It’s like Apple in that Google has control of both software and hardware.

We just got the Google Pixel 9 lineup in August, and in typical Google fashion, we expect a more budget-friendly option midway through the flagship's life cycle. In 2025, that'll be the Google Pixel 9a.

Read more
The next Google Pixels may have major camera upgrades
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9's cameras.

Few would argue that the Google Pixel 9 isn't a great phone, and now a huge leak from Google's gChips division has just shown us what we can look forward to in the Pixel 10 and Pixel 11 display and cameras.

Let us be the first to tell you: it's really, really cool. There's a lot to go through, and most of our information comes courtesy of Android Authority.
Even more generative features

Read more
Android 16 might give its own spin to iPhone’s Dynamic Island alerts
The DynamicSpot Dynamic Island at the top of the Pixel 7 Pro.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve come across some interesting details about the next major build of Android. Currently in development under the apparent codename of Baklava, Android 16 will reportedly bring a cool new feature called Priority modes for notifications.

If that sounds familiar, that’s because Apple already offers a bunch of focus modes toward the same goal and bolsters the system with AI-assisted priority notifications in iOS 18. It seems Google doesn’t want to be left behind, and in doing so, could very well lift from a popular iPhone trick.

Read more