Google shuts down its Cloud Print service after 10-year Beta

Martin Brinkmann
Nov 22, 2019
Google
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Google revealed plans to shut down Cloud Print, a cloud-based printing solution, at the end of 2020 permanently.

The company launched Cloud Print back in 2010 as a solution to print from any Internet connected device to compatible printers. The main benefit of the solution was that users did not have to install printer drivers on their client devices and that devices did not need to be in the same local network as the printer. The solution enabled printing on devices without official support from the printer's manufacturer or drivers for that particular device.

On Windows users could install the Google Cloud Printer application to add cloud printing functionality to the operating system.

One of the downsides of Cloud Print was that documents had to be transferred to Google. Google stated that it kept a copy of the document only for as long as needed to complete the print job.

google shuts down cloud print

A support page on the Google website informs users about the upcoming termination of Cloud Print. According to the information on the page, Cloud Print will continue to function until December 31, 2020. Google will shut down the service on January 1, 2021 and that means that "devices across all operating systems will no longer be able to print using Google Cloud Print".

Google lists a number of options on the support page, aimed specifically at Chrome OS administrators and users. The company recommends native printing which it says has improved significantly. Among the options are printing over USB or a local network through Common Unix Printing System, or Enterprise and Education specific native printing options.

Affected users may be able to use Google Cloud Print alternatives such as Free Mobility Print for Android.

Closing Words

It is not uncommon for Google to shut down products and the sheer reach of the company means that shutdowns affect a large number of customers. Google users affected by shutdowns may be more cautious when it comes to using new Google products (such as Stadia).  The decision to shut down Google Print will make things more complicated for some.

Now You: Have you used Cloud Print? What is your take on the shutdown?

Summary
Google shuts down its Cloud Print service after 10-year Beta
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Google shuts down its Cloud Print service after 10-year Beta
Description
Google revealed plans to shut down Cloud Print, a cloud-based printing solution, at the end of 2020 permanently.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Paul Jamieson said on December 11, 2019 at 12:41 am
    Reply

    Does anybody have any options for replacing google cloud print?
    Needed:
    – Ability to change printer settings
    – Ability to print from almost any apps ..
    – Cost efficient ..
    – Web based (Managed)
    – Can work with WiFi\Network\local printers
    – Compatible with laptops\desktops .. Chromebooks, Windows, Apple.. Linux
    – Compatible with almost all printers (certified)

  2. Ron said on November 24, 2019 at 7:18 am
    Reply

    Since I bought an HP printer last year, I’ve been using the ePrint services, which allows you to assign your internet-connected printer a unique email address (like BrinkmannPrinter@hpeprint.com). Then, anyone with the email address can send files to the printer from anywhere they have email access. Besides printing off the actual email itself, it will print off any attachments, like Word docs and PDF files (if there’s nothing in the body of the email, only the attachments get printed). If my wife is at work and wants to print something off at home, she just emails it to the printer and it’s waiting for her when she gets home. You can also set it up so that only emails from certain addresses get forwarded to the printer. It’s been very convenient, and has the advantage of not needing to install a printer driver on the sending devices.

    1. Paul Jamieson said on December 11, 2019 at 12:31 am
      Reply

      That is great if it is a MS app (or PDF) file that you need printed, but a large part of the population print from other apps, etc!I
      I have used it too… but we need a better solution as our business uses lots of different platforms and forcing people to email their print jobs to an email address is not the solution…
      Where would we setup specific printing options??

  3. daveb said on November 23, 2019 at 6:24 pm
    Reply

    These companies are worrying more about pairing down their services and buying up others to shut them down than they are about making new things.

    Too bad… cloud print was useful. It couldnt have been a major drain of resources for them.

    Oh well.. every month is another teaching point over how one should never rely on the cloud.

  4. JohnIL said on November 23, 2019 at 11:16 am
    Reply

    I was onboard with Chromebooks early on, but the printing issues was the deal breaker that made me give up on Chromebooks. Something so important in my local network as printer support was not cutting it with Google’s solution of cloud print. It wasn’t reliable, and it didn’t always support the full features of the printers. Given Chrome OS was a based off of Ubuntu Linux I never understood why Google did not implement that driver system into Chrome OS. My experience with most Linux distro’s is they always detected my network printers just fine.

    1. Paul Jamieson said on December 11, 2019 at 12:26 am
      Reply

      Not sure what you are going on about?
      I just plugged (USB) my 5yr old canon printer into my 7yr old Samsung
      chromebook and within 2mins I was printing!! No need for drivers or anything!
      True plug and play!

    2. Erin C. said on November 23, 2019 at 7:27 pm
      Reply

      Correction, ChromeOS is based on Gentoo Linux not Ubuntu Linux.

  5. Schmurtz said on November 23, 2019 at 5:15 am
    Reply

    Is there any free alternative to print from android ?

    1. John G. said on November 23, 2019 at 7:54 am
      Reply

      I use HP printing service for Android phones and tablets. No problem for me since 2017. 😊

  6. Anonee said on November 22, 2019 at 7:45 pm
    Reply

    Good riddance!

    Incredible how on iOS for example, it has had AirPrint built in since 2010 and it wirelessly prints LOCALLY without going through a 3rd party service or whatever. But the same year, Google releases this “Cloud Print” service and it works by routing your printing queue through Google’s servers, yet they claim that it is “private” and they only keep it just long enough to print your document and then it’s gone? lol, sure….

    Even worse is that they made the Cloud Print service the only method of printing on a Chromebook! I don’t know if they’ve finally changed that but it’s ridiculous how much Google complicates everything and constantly drops services/software with no warning, at a whim, and leave you scrambling for another solution.
    It’s why I had to dump android. I couldn’t handle Google doing this kind of stuff all the time, such as trying to launch yet another iMessage competitor for like the 4th time and then dropping it again when it doesn’t take off!

  7. dmacleo said on November 22, 2019 at 4:49 pm
    Reply

    many android apps gonna take a hit.

  8. kalmly said on November 22, 2019 at 3:58 pm
    Reply

    Today it’s Google shutting something down, tomorrow (and yesterday) it’s Microsoft. Can’t depend on things we have no control over. Once burned, I don’t go back. One day I will run out of processes and applications altogether.

    Sigh.

  9. ULBoom said on November 22, 2019 at 2:28 pm
    Reply

    Project Guillotine Meeting:

    “Cloud Print? What’s that, like when I use my phone to remotely print something on my home printer?”
    “Yes, we’ve had that service in beta for ten years, solid user base.”
    “I’ve never used it and I can still print to almost anywhere remotely; do we make money from it? Does anyone really need it?”
    “Uh, No and No.”
    “Get rid of it ASAP.”

    “Next item, what’s this Google Toenail, large thumbnails or something?”
    “No, it’s a toenail growth analytic, users livestream their toe…”
    “OMG!!! How many of these do we have?”
    “There’s a team working on that.”

  10. Ascrod said on November 22, 2019 at 1:16 pm
    Reply

    Another one bites the dust.

  11. Clairvaux said on November 22, 2019 at 9:38 am
    Reply

    “Among the options are printing over USB.”

    Quite. That’s a revolutionary feature that too few people know about, or are brave enough to use.

    1. ULBoom said on November 22, 2019 at 2:42 pm
      Reply

      I like to put my laptop screen on our printer, scan it back into the laptop, copy a screenshot of the scan and print it. Need to utilize all capabilities we paid for in the printer, of course.

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