Google first announced in 2020 that they would be migrating users away from their messaging system Hangouts to Chat, and following some other transitional periods, the company said Hangouts will shut down in November.
Google announced the end of Hangouts on Monday in a news release and said that "Google Chat opens up new and better ways to connect and collaborate," as they have focused on improving the system and making it more user-friendly.
Google said that users who use Hangouts on a mobile device will be prompted to move over to Chat through their Gmail account or download the Chat app. The same goes for those who access Hangouts on the web, as they'll have until July before the are automatically switched to Chat.
"Similarly, people who use the Hangouts Chrome extension will be asked to move to Chat on the web or install the Chat web app," Google said. "In July, people who use Hangouts in Gmail on the web will be upgraded to Chat in Gmail.
"While we encourage everyone to make the switch to Chat, Hangouts on the web will continue to be available until later this year. Users will see an in-product notice at least a month before Hangouts on the web starts redirecting to Chat on the web."
The good news for most Hangouts users is that their conversations will be transferred over to Chat. If a person wants to save all of their data from Hangouts, Googles suggests downloading that through Google Takeover and "following these instructions."
Google Hangouts was first launched on May 15, 2013 as it gave users the ability to send messages, voice memos, and even host a video call. Since March 22, Google started to turn on the "Chat preferred" setting for all users, making the system the default app for messaging.
"This means that when users visit classic Hangouts in Gmail on the web or the classic Hangouts mobile apps, they’ll be directed to Chat," Google said in February. "Hangouts.google.com will continue to work. It is not possible to opt out of this change."
Now, the company is trying to attract users to Chat with new features "like direct calling, in-line threading in Spaces and the ability to share and view multiple images." Chat users will also have full access to emojis, gifs, and the ability to use side-by-side editing in Docs, Slides, and Sheets.
"As we take this final step to bring remaining Hangouts users to Chat, we hope users will appreciate our continued investment in making Chat a powerful place to create and collaborate," Google said.
Related
Related
