Between 2017 and 2018, Google released a digital whiteboard service integrated with Google Drive called “Jamboard.” It was announced last year that they will be retiring the Jamboard service and their physical devices in 2024. According to Google, the Jamboard retirement processes will begin on October 1, and the service will be officially shut down on December 31, 2024.
On October 1:
- The Jamboard service will become view-only.
- You can no longer create new Jamboard files (“Jams”) or edit existing ones on any platform, including the web, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Jamboard devices.
- Google will begin automatically converting existing Jams to PDFs. The PDFs will be saved in the same Drive location as the Jam.
- Google informed us that PDF conversions are done on a “best-effort basis.” If you would like to ensure your Jams are converted before the service is shut down on December 31, we recommend exporting your Jams (as PDFs or PNGs) manually as soon as possible.
- The PDF will have the same created and last modified dates as the original Jam.
- The PDF will be shared with the same collaborators as the original Jam.
- Once a PDF has been created via conversion, any changes to the original Jam file, such as file location, will not be carried over to the PDF.
- If ownership of the Jam was transferred to a new individual, but the new owner has not accepted it, the original owner will receive the PDF in Drive.
- After your Jams are converted to PDFs, the original Jam files will remain in Drive until December 31.
- Jamboard devices will go into “offline mode.” Jams can no longer be opened/edited, and Google will stop releasing security updates and new features for the device. If you own a Jamboard device on campus, ITS has contacted all owners via targeted email with more information.
On December 31, the Jamboard service will become unavailable on every platform, and existing Jam files will be permanently deleted.
ITS doesn’t offer an alternative solution to replace the Google Jamboard whiteboarding service or device. If you are interested in another whiteboarding service or device, you should explore other third-party solutions within your unit.