Google killing off Latitude location-sharing service Aug. 9

While Google launched an awesome-looking upgrade for its Android and iOS versions of Google Maps today, it also snuck some bad news into the same post with the announcement that it will soon kill its Latitude location-sharing service.

Latitude gave Google users a way to share their current location with friends and family. It also let you record where you went throughout the day so you could better track your movements.

After August 9, the service will no longer function. Latitude was previously included in Google Maps on Android but has been taken out of the version that was released today. The Latitude app for the iPhone will also be removed from Apple’s App Store.

For those Latitude users out there who are heartbroken, Google is now pushing you to use the location sharing and check-in features inside of Google+ for Android. Those same features will “soon” come to the iOS version of Google+.

Google is no stranger to “retiring” services and has faced a lot of negative sentiment in recent months by axing its Google Reader app. But that at least somewhat opened the door for innovation in the RSS reading space.

But Latitude appears to have had a much smaller user base than Reader, so we don’t expect there to be as much backlash.