Google has announced that the classic Hangouts messaging service will disappear starting next month as part of the transition to Google Chat. The company announces starting from March 22nd, Google Chat will be its default chat application, what this means is that users who visit Hangouts in Gmail via the web or try the old Hangouts mobile apps will be redirected to Chat.
This move by Google Hangouts to Google Chat is the latest step in Google’s strategy to evolve messaging service. Although some users may interpret this strategy sometimes as confusing we hope this is a lot different. This particular migration strategy took effect in June 2020 when the focus was integrating the messaging service with Gmail. Google Chat is however different from GChat, the unofficial name for Google Talk, and has since witnessed being shut down in 2017 and replaced with Hangouts which is also about to experience its own shutdown. From Google Talk to Google Hangouts and now to Google Chats, Google continues to evolve – which comes as confusing.
Currently, this change is only reported to affect Workspace users, legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers. Generally, people who depend on Google’s services for business may slightly be affected. But 9to5Google notes that Google has previously indicated free Google Account users will go through the same transition after Workspace. So if you’re a Google Workspace user, get set for the shutting down of the classic Hangouts messaging service.