Story by
Emil Protalinski
Emil was a reporter for The Next Web between 2012 and 2014. Over the years, he has covered the tech industry for multiple publications, incl Emil was a reporter for The Next Web between 2012 and 2014. Over the years, he has covered the tech industry for multiple publications, including Ars Technica, Neowin, TechSpot, ZDNet, and CNET. Stay in touch via Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
Square today announced it is open-sourcing everything behind the photo-sharing tool Viewfinder on GitHub. All 250,000 lines of code have been released, covering Viewfinder server, as well as its Android and iOS apps.
Square engineer Peter Mattis explains, the open-sourcing move is a last hurrah:
We’re releasing this code in the hopes that it can be of utility to others, either as an archaeological resource or as the basis for other exciting efforts. Our days are now filled with other priorities, so we won’t be able to provide support or bug fixes for this code. And while the code is not as clean as it could be, we would rather share it with you than hold it hostage.
Five months ago Square acquired Viewfinder, a startup that specialized in helping you “organize, share, and relive memories” with friends and loved ones. The team was to shut down Viewfinder and focus on seller initiatives within Square, expanding the mobile payment processing company’s New York City presence.
➤ Viewfinder (GitHub)
Image Credit: Flickr/cdharrison
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