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Apple cancels Cards greeting card app, suggests iPhoto

The company shutters the app for greeting card creation and delivery two years after its introduction with the iPhone 4S.

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Scott Forstall introducing Cards in 2011. Josh Lowensohn/CNET

Apple quietly discontinued its Cards app on Tuesday, just two years after launching the greeting card app.

iOS users who launched the app this afternoon were greeted by the message: "The Cards service is no longer available." Attempts to visit the app's page are redirected to the iPhoto '11 page, suggesting that Apple is offering the photo-sharing app as an alternative.

An Apple Knowledge Base page seems to offer the only public acknowledgement of the closure Apple has offered:

As of September 10, 2013, the Cards iOS app service is no longer available.
Cards ordered before 1 PM Pacific time on September 10, 2013, will be delivered, and push notifications will continue to work.
You can view your previous purchases by tapping Saved Cards in the app.
Note: You can still order beautiful letterpress cards customized with your photos and text using iPhoto on your Mac. Cards ordered through iPhoto are shipped through a carrier such as FedEx rather than through the United States Post Office.

Introduced alongside iPhone 4S in 2011, Cards let iPhone users create fold-in-the-middle greeting cards that Apple would then send to recipients on real paper via snail mail. Buyers used their Apple ID account to make payments and received a push notification when their card was delivered if it was shipped in the U.S. as part of a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service.

CNET has contacted Apple for comment on the closure and will update this report when we learn more.