Google announced on Google+ that the company will be killing off some of the App Indexing features within the Google Search Console. To be specific, Google has chosen to turn off the Fetch As Google For Apps feature in order to “avoid unnecessary duplication” with what is available within the Firebase help documentation.
It was back on May 22, 20015 when Google added Fetch As Google for mobile apps, and is now removing the feature two years later. A year after launching the tool in Google Search Console for mobile apps, Google renamed Google App Indexing to Firebase App Indexing.
It’s possible that, soon enough, all the features available for those deploying app indexing and using Google Search Console tools will be removed. The company has focused more of their attention on AMP, PWAs, responsive and other technologies over mobile apps within search and Google Search Console.
Here is Google’s statement:
In May 2016, we announced Firebase App Indexing, together with neat testing tools for apps. To avoid unnecessary duplication, we’ll be turning off the old “Fetch As Google for Apps” feature in Search Console.
Making your apps’ content indexable has gotten much easier over the years. If you’re making smartphone apps now, please check out Firebase App Indexing at https://firebase.google.com/docs/app-indexing/ for more information.