Google is Shutting Down Hangouts in November

Google is officially encouraging Hangouts holdouts to migrate to the new messaging system, known as Chat. If you're still using Hangouts on your mobile device, you'll see an in-app screen urging you to switch over to Gmail's Chat or the separate Chat app starting today. Beginning in July, if you're using Chrome, you'll begin seeing a prompt asking you whether it's time to accept reality. The online version of Hangouts will continue to function until later this year.

It's still the same old Google Chat in terms of functionality. You may use rich text editing and features like "@ mentions" and emoji reactions from Slack-like applications. Google Chat also promotes collaboration by emphasizing interaction. It has "spaces" for group chats that allow you to embed files, photographs, and tasks for easy reference.

The redesign of Google Chat is mostly a result of the company's shift to Workspaces. As Google points out on its blog, it has "ambitious plans for the future of Chat." In the coming months, we can anticipate new features including direct calling, in-line threading, and the capacity to share and view multiple pictures. The comparisons to Slack and Discord are easy. I'm also interested to see whether this direct calling functionality is a leftover from Google Duo, the video app that will soon be shut down.

The transition to Google Chat will be painless, as it will be for you. You'll still have your previous Hangouts conversations after the switch. The program also includes a new functionality that recognizes when you're chatting from another device, so you won't get pinged on additional platforms with every reply.