One of the most influential names in chat software says goodbye as Google Hangouts begins its final farewell.
The company has confirmed (opens in a new tab) that as of November 1, 2022, Hangouts on the web will no longer be available to users as it looks to modernize its Google Workspace suite to make it as efficient as possible for users. users.
Instead, users will now be directed to Google Chat as the company looks to continue the transition to its more unified instant messaging service.
Goodbye Google Hangouts
Users trying to access the Hangouts website will now see a message that says, "Starting November 1, 2022, Hangouts on the web will redirect to Chat on the web. We recommend switching to Chat now."
The news is the final nail in the coffin for Google Hangouts after it was initially announced that it would be retiring in 2020.
The Android and iOS apps were shut down in July 2022, and the official Hangouts Chrome extension was shut down soon after as well.
Google says that while most messages and contacts should be moved to the new service, some conversations or parts of conversations won't automatically migrate from Hangouts to Chat, even though affected users have already been contacted.
Users can continue to use Google's Takeout service to download their Hangouts data until January 1, 2023.
The company began "upgrading" business and business users on "classic Hangouts" to Google Chat in March 2022. Mobile users began seeing in-app alerts to switch to Chat in Gmail or the Chat app in June, and web users were updated in July. . .
"Google Chat provides a modern, integrated experience within Google Workspace. We have big ambitions for the future of Chat, and in the coming months you'll see even more features like direct calling, live chat in Spaces, and the ability to share and display multiple images," wrote Ravi Kanneganti, a product manager for Google Chat at the time.
"As we take this final step to bring remaining Hangouts users to Chat, we hope users appreciate our continued investment in making Chat a powerful place to create and collaborate."
Via TechCrunch (Opens in a new tab)