Google Hangouts has already been discontinued and is being replaced by Google Chat, the company’s latest messaging service for users and businesses. The app was removed from both the Google Play Store and the App Store earlier this year. Now Google has announced that Hangouts on the web will be upgraded to Google Chat, as a final step in completely replacing Google Hangouts — the messaging service that debuted as a Google+ feature in 2013 — with Google Chat. Also, the default messaging app for Google Workspace users. According to the company, this transition will start from November 1.
Gadgets 360 received an email from the Google Apps team announcing an upcoming upgrade from Hangouts on the web to chat on the web. The email reads, “We are emailing you because some of your conversations or parts of conversations will not automatically migrate from Hangouts to Chat.” You can check your inbox for communications from Google. The company suggests that if you want your Hangouts conversations to continue, you’ll need to use google takeout more easily download Your data is from before January 1, 2023 when Hangouts data will be deleted.”
Hangouts on the web and conversations on the platform will be accessible in Hangouts until November 1, 2022. If you delete a conversation from Google Hangouts, related content in Google Chat may also be deleted, “so to keep deleting any conversations you don’t want.” If you don’t want to go to the chat, you can stop using it at any time. “You can also delete conversations in Chats or delete your Google Account completely” but that will also delete all data content on that account.
Google says that Google Chat “offers closer integration with other Google Workspace products as well as modern features” and that’s why it’s migrating to Chat. Modern features on Google Chat include a GIF picker and Spaces, a dedicated space for topic-based collaboration — just like Twitter.
Earlier this year, Google removed the Hangouts app from the Google Play store as well as Apple’s App Store to prevent new users from downloading the discontinued chat app on iOS and Android devices. Google Hangouts was reported in Google Chat back in November 2018. The company began moving Workspace users from Hangouts to Meet in October 2020.
