Google Hangouts Web app has finally been shut down. The instant messaging cross-platform developed by Google operated from 15th May 2013 to 1st November 2022.
The end of Hangouts was first announced in 2018. The delisting of the hangouts mobile app from both android and iOS devices followed in July 2022.
Users of Hangouts got in-app prompts asking them to move to Google Chat, a platform that has now replaced Google Hangouts platform. Those who wish to keep a copy of their Hangouts data can download it using the Google Takeout service. They have until January 2023 to keep their Hangouts data.
This move by the company is in a bid to modernise its Google workspace suite. Hangouts which launched in 2013 as Android’s default messaging service, amassed up to 5 billion downloads and handled Android SMS duties, just like Apple’s I Message.
Read also: Google adds passkeys to Chrome and Android
The New Google Chat
The product manager of Google Chat, Ravi Kanneganti, stated in June 2022 that;
“Google Chat offers a modern and integrated experience in Google Workspace. We have big ambitions for the future of Chat, and over the coming months, you’ll see even more features like direct calling, in-line threading in Spaces and the ability to share and view multiple images.
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.”
The History of Google Hangouts
Hangouts debuted in 2013. It started as a means of unifying Google’s then-fragmented messaging approach. Ironically, this is the same justification for its demise now.
From 2014 to 2016, Hangouts enjoyed its golden era. It wasn’t exactly ahead of the curve compared to apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or iMessage, and it slowly built a reputation for bugs as it added features, but it still had the right mix to secure its place.
Google started decoupling parts of Hangouts from Google+, and users enjoyed a steady trickle of new features, from Hangout’s not-so-well-known animated Easter eggs to Project Fi support and even Google Now integration for voice commands. It didn’t get a drastic new redesign every year, but Hangouts accomplished what it needed to.
The first Hangouts was for video calls, and Google’s slightly different approach almost predicted the rise of upcoming services like Twitch, Clubhouse, and Zoom. With Google+ Hangouts, you could open up a group video call that anyone in selected “circles” could drop into and out of at will. And, if you wanted, you could even blast a Hangout on Air to the world at large. The new Hangouts started life as a drop-in Google Talk replacement.
Although SMS and Google Voice integration would come later, it didn’t start with either, failing that goal of unification right at the beginning. Still, it was Google’s best messaging service to date.