Google Officially Shuts Down Hangouts

Google officially shut down Hangouts recently. Google Hangouts was a text, video, and audio chat app integrated into Gmail. Additionally, the company is transitioning Hangouts customers to Google Chat, the company's Slack-like enterprise instant messaging platform, as previously stated earlier this year. The Google Hangouts web app is no longer accessible as of November 1. Furthermore, this was the final Hangouts service the company offered to users. In July this year, the Android and iOS apps stopped working. On another note, Google began to allow users to switch to Chat in 2021, giving the impression that the service was dying slowly. And in June 2022, the company declared that it would ask Hangout users to switch to Chat in Gmail or the app. [caption id="attachment_58029" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] image credit: thedailystar[/caption] And while Google will move most of the messages and contacts to Chat automatically, not all of the information will. Therefore, the company advises customers to download and save a copy of their data using Google Takeout. Most importantly, users may retain their Hangouts data until January 2023. What's more Before being a separate app, Google+'s Hangouts was first a feature. The messaging service had 5 billion downloads on the Google Play Store. Additionally, Chat offers more capabilities for group conversations, as well as security and collaboration tools like Spaces and editing Docs, Slides, or Sheets side-by-side with other users. However, Chat can never completely replace Hangouts. Also, Chat users can use @mentions to alert other group members and send GIFs. [caption id="attachment_58028" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] image credit: proandroid[/caption] Lastly, Google previously stated that using Chat to connect with others is preferable. "As we take this final step to bring remaining Hangouts users to Chat, we hope users will appreciate our continued investment in making Chat a powerful place to create and collaborate," Google Chat Product Manager Ravi Kanneganti wrote in a blog post back in June.