Google is shutting its messaging app Hangouts before it officially pulls the plug on Google Hangouts in November, the company has announced. According to the tech giant, users still on the Hangouts mobile app will see a prompt to move to Google Chat.
"Moving to Google Chat opens up new and better ways to connect and collaborate. For example, users can edit Docs, Slides or Sheets with side-by-side editing, making it easier to collaborate while continuing the conversation. Google Chat also includes Spaces, a dedicated place for topic-based collaboration. Groups and teams can share ideas, work on documents, and manage files and tasks, all from a single location. And, the new integrated view in Gmail makes it easier to use Chat alongside your Gmail inbox, Spaces, and Meet," Ravi Kanneganti, Product Manager, Google Chat, wrote in a blog post.
To recall, earlier in October 2020, Google had announced that Google Chat would be available for everyone. Since then, people could continue using Hangouts or upgrade to Google Chat -- available as its own app or within Gmail -- to take advantage of its features and integration with other Workspace products.
"We’ve continued to invest in Chat to help people better collaborate and express themselves, and now we’re taking steps to help remaining Hangouts users move to Chat," Kanneganti added.
Meanwhile, earlier in April, Google had confirmed that Hangouts Meet is no longer a Hangouts product and will simply be known as Google Meet. The rebrand will happen on a rolling basis, meaning it will take time for it to disseminate globally, said a media report. The tech giant also confirmed that Google Meet is an independent part of G Suite, the portfolio of business services that also includes brands such as Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Drive.
Hangouts or Classic Hangouts is a separate platform from Hangouts Chat and the rebranded Meet. Google's Hangouts is just like any messaging platform with features like video calling, while Hangouts Chat is just for messaging and Meet is for meetings.
As of April, Google Meet's usage was 25 times what it was in January and the service was gaining more than 2 million new users a day.