Software extensions provide contextual spelling and grammar checking, automated language translation[2] and other features.

Google accepted most requests submitted starting November 29, 2009, soon after the September extended release of the technical preview.

is a quote from Kaylee Frye in the 2005 motion-picture Firefly reworking, Serenity, and it is matched with a sign declaring that "This wave is experiencing some turbulence and might explode.

During an event in Amsterdam, Netherlands,[15] it became apparent that the 60-strong team that was then working on Wave in Sydney used Joss Whedon-related references to describe, among others, the sandbox version of Wave called Dollhouse after the TV series by Firefly producer Joss Whedon, which was aired on Fox in the US.

Google released most of the source code as free software,[2] allowing the public to develop its features through extensions.

Thus, waves could function not only as e-mails and threaded conversations but also as an instant messaging service when many participants were online at the same time.

A wave could repeatedly shift roles between e-mail and instant messaging depending on the number of users editing it concurrently.

[4] The ability to modify a wave at any location let users create collaborative documents, edited in a manner akin to wikis.

Collaborators could use a playback feature to observe the order in which it was edited, blips that were added, and who was responsible for what in the wave.

[2] During the initial launch of Google Wave, invitations were widely sought by users and were sold on auction sites.

[23] Those who received invitations and decided to test Google Wave could not communicate with their contacts on their regular email accounts.

Google Wave initially received positive press coverage for its design[24] and potential uses.

[27] On August 4, 2010, Google announced Wave would no longer be developed as a stand-alone product due to a lack of interest.

[30] After their announcement in early August 2010, the website recorded over 49,000 supporter registrations urging Google Wave's continuation.

[31] In retrospect, the lack of success of Google Wave was attributed among other things to its complicated user interface resulting from a product that merged features of email, instant messengers and wikis but ultimately failed to do anything significantly better than the existing solutions.

[32] Chris Dawson of online technology magazine Zdnet discussed inconsistencies in the reasoning of Google in deciding to end support for Wave,[28] mentioning its "deep involvement" in developing social media networks, to which many of Wave's capabilities are ideally suited.

[33] A Wave Proposal page with details on the project's goals was created on the Apache Foundation's Incubator Wiki.

[35] In 2016, several discussions took place within the Apache Wave community, aiming to tackle the stagnation and crisis state of the project.

[39] Still this was not sufficient to resurrect Wave's developer community, and SwellRT continued as independent project.

They may be Internet bots (robots) to automate common tasks, or gadgets to extend or change user interaction features, e.g., posting blips on microblog feeds or providing RSVP recording mechanisms.

[16][17] The protocol allows private reply wavelets within parent waves, where other participants have no access or knowledge of them.