Google has announced its next step in migrating the Hangouts app to Google Chat for good . The migration of text messaging apps had already been announced in February , when the company said it would make the transition gradually.
If previously the company had announced to Google Workspace users , now it is pushing others, who pay nothing, to make the change. From now on, those trying to use Hangouts will see a notice asking them to download and use Google Chat or Gmail.
In addition, Google has been highlighting the app’s facilities with new features such as making video calls directly from the app, creating threads within “Spaces” (as in Slack), and also sharing and viewing images, GIFs and more.
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On the web, users will be able to continue using Hangouts until November ; the company says that at least a month before, it will start asking people to make the change. For those who want to get ahead, the change can be made by going to Settings » View All Settings » Chat and Meet and enabling the new Chat instead of Hangouts. Once this is done, what were once talkgroups become “Spaces”.
The company is increasingly looking to add and simplify its options. Although there is already an app of its own for Chat, it is also available in the Gmail app, as well as Meet is already available. So now you will be able to find your conversations (“Chat”), your groups (“Spaces”) and your video conferences (“Meet”) in your email client.
This isn’t the only migration underway at Google. Just this month, the company made it official that Duo and Meet would be a single app for video calls. After that and the “back-and-forth” of messaging apps (Google Talk that became Hangouts and now Chat), it seems that the intention is to “clean up the house” and standardize its communication solutions. At least we hope so.
