Bump! was an app released by Bump Technologies in 2009 that allowed users to share data between their smartphones. They could transfer photos and contact cards by bumping their phones at each other.
It was available on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play, and its technology was used briefly for PayPal money transfers on iPhone.
Bump! later started working with another app by the same company – Flock. It collected users’ files from different devices and stored them together.
Google acquired Bump Technologies in 2013.
In January 2014, Bump’s CEO and co-founder, David Lieb, announced on the company’s blog they were removing the apps from the App Store and Google Play and deleting all content.
They provided users with the opportunity to export their data from Bump! and Flock by the end of January 2014. The reason they provided for their decision was that they were focusing on other projects with Google.
Google provided no information on their part. However, they also made no promises of supporting the app when they acquired Bump Technologies.
It can be speculated that Google was more interested in the different mobile communication patents the acquisition provided them access to, and not in further developing the existing apps.
For example, they could use the acquired technology to improve Android and its alternatives to near-field communication (NFC).
Nowadays, NFC, WiFi transfers, and even direct connection to your PC are part of most phones' inbuilt features, with many apps available for managing the connection and file storage easier.
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