According to a company statement, Google has finally shut down Hangouts. The app, which has been Google’s main messaging platform since 2013, will redirect users to Google Chat .
A text, video and voice chat app built into Gmail, Hangouts had been closed since July, when the Chrome extension and mobile apps on Google Play and the Apple App Store were removed.
The web-based messaging app, which was the only Hangouts offering still available to users, was removed today. Hangouts users can access the app until Nov. 1, 2022, when they will have to use chat.
Chat will take over many of Hangouts’ features
Chat, which replaced Hangouts, is an instant messaging platform similar to Slack or Microsoft Teams. It integrates with Google Work Space and offers additional features such as group chats, security tools and the ability to collaborate on files in the Google Docs Editors suite.Chatouts also allows users to send GIFs, use formatted text features, notify other users with @mentions and use emoticons with skin tone choices.
Google began allowing Hangouts users to switch to chat rooms in July 2021. The search company began suggesting that users switch in June of this year.
According to the statement, most of users’ contacts and messages will be automatically migrated, but some data will need to be manually moved. With that in mind, Hangouts data will be available for download through Google Takeout until Jan. 1, 2023.
“We have big ambitions for the future of Chat, and in the coming months you’ll see more features like live calling, streaming in Spaces, and the ability to share and view multiple images,” Ravi Cunneganti, a Google Chat product manager, said in a blog post earlier this year.
Move marks to the next chapter in Google Messaging
In August 2005, Google launched Google Talk, its first attempt at an instant messaging platform. Since then, the search company has made numerous attempts to develop a successful messenger with mixed but often disappointing results.
Over the past 17 years, there have been more than a dozen attempts to capitalize on a market dominated by competitors such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and iMessage.
Some of the most notable projects include Google+ Hangouts, the initial iteration of the app on the short-lived social networking site Allo, which suffered from serious privacy problems, and Duo, which will be merged with Meet by the end of this year.