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Google Hangouts Is Shutting Down After Nearly 9 years.

Google Workspace users were transferred to the more modern “Google Chat” software in February, replacing the outdated “Hangouts” feature. Later this year, the company intends to completely phase out older Hangouts and transition all current users to Google Chat. Google indicated in a recent blog post that users of Hangouts on desktop and mobile devices will be encouraged to move to Google Chat before Hangouts is withdrawn in November 2022. Users will be able to export all of their Hangouts data before the platform is retired, and conversation data from the Hangouts platform will be instantly available on Google Chat. After nine years, Google is ending support for its multi-platform instant messaging service. The internet giant is urging users to transition to Google Chat, which will debut in October 2022. Hangouts Chrome extension users will also be invited to switch to Chat on the web or download the Chat web app. Chat in Gmail will also be available to users of Hangouts on Gmail’s web platform beginning next month.

Hangouts, which debuted in 2013, will be discontinued in November of this year, and Google wants users to download all of their data before that time. Although most users’ discussions will be automatically transferred from Hangouts to Chat, the firm nevertheless urges customers “who prefer to save a copy of their Hangouts data to utilize Google Takeout to retrieve their data when Hangouts is no longer available in November” to use Google Takeout.

Starting today, people using Hangouts on mobile will see an in-app screen asking them to move to Chat in Gmail or the Chat app. Similarly, people who use the Hangouts Chrome extension will be asked to move to Chat on the web or install the Chat web app. In July, people who use Hangouts in Gmail on the web will be upgraded to Chat in Gmail,” according to a blog post by Google.

Source: techzimo.com

Hangouts users will continue to get in-product notifications for at least one month prior to the termination of Hangouts web. Following that, Google Chat web will begin automatically redirecting visitors from the Hangouts web.

Google Hangouts
Image source: cybernews.com

According to Google, users of Hangouts in Gmail on the web will not be prompted to switch to Chat until July. Google said it will tell customers “At least one month” before moving the Hangouts website to Chat. It will remain available on the desktop site until November. If you still use Hangouts, Google should automatically migrate all of your current conversations to Chat. When Hangouts is formally retired in November, the firm had given the chance to download a copy of your data using its Takeout service.

Compared to Hangouts, Google Chat offers a number of new features, including side-by-side editing of Docs, Slides, and Sheets. Additionally, it has a location designated -for cooperation on specific topics called Spaces. Through chats, teams and groups may collaborate on documents, manage projects and files from a single spot, and share ideas.

Additionally, Google is advising users to download their data via Google Takeout, the company’s data exportation service, before Hangouts is discontinued in November. Google is also providing new features like direct calling, establishing in-line threads in Spaces (formerly known as Rooms), viewing and sharing multiple photos, and more to make things interesting and draw users.

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 mentioned in the blog.

Source: indiatoday.in
Chat

Google Decided To Rename Hangouts Chat As Google Chat

We have used the platform Hangouts at least once in our lifetime. While Google’s other products such as Google Map, Google Drive, Google Music, etc has the brand name at the beginning. The company also decided to change the name of Hangouts chat to Google chat. Google declared it yesterday that it is a simple rebranding from Hangouts to Google. The company has officially removed the name, Hangouts Chat from its enterprise G Suite. Google was planning to do it for a while. It has been noticed that an updated G Suite support document has the mention of Google Meets. And, along with the change of this name of Google’s messaging platform, the company rebranded Hangouts Meet as Google Meet.

The misunderstandings

Similar news might tend to confuse customers at times. Is Hangouts vanishing forever? The answer is no. It will remain as the name of the customer chat app of Google+. Google spun it off in 2013 and since then it has become a standalone product. Since then it has been struggling a lot to compete with other messaging apps and improve reputation. So, all that has changed is the name of Google’s own online instant messaging platform.

Some predicted reasons

The sudden change in the name might not be for any reason. It may look very simple. But, a renowned company like Google wouldn’t make some random decisions. Though many products of Google are used by billions of people around the world, Hangouts didn’t catch much attention. A messaging app like Whatsapp is preferred over Hangouts. Many people don’t even know how to use it because of certain complications like Allo and related services.

But, it seems like this chat service has failed to gain popularity even after many attempts. So, the strategy of rebranding it and appending the word “Google” might drive some topic. One more important thing that is the reason behind every news today is the coronavirus outbreak. The pandemic has caused every employee of the tertiary sector to work from home. And, in this situation, millions of video meetings are taking place via Zoom today.

Those people are using other Google products, Hangouts Meet is certainly cornered. It may be because the name itself doesn’t radiate the vibe of professionalism. This can be another prominent reason for the sudden change in name. But, the company didn’t confirm any of these reasons. They are just a few predictions made by experts.

Few Updates on rebranding

Long before the company released the G Suite document, they planned on changing the brand name. As, both the CEO of Google Cloud and CEO of Google referred to the product as “Meet”. They claimed it to be a shorthand reference until now when it got transferred to Google Meet. Google first released the news of rebranding Google Meet. Then after a few minutes, Google Chat was on the radar as well.

Hangouts Meet to Google Meet

It seems like the company wants its name on every single product it launches. This has led to even renaming Google’s videoconferencing app, Hangouts Meet. Google declared yesterday that from now on it will be known as Google Meet.

New features added to Google Meet

After getting trademarked by the company, Google Meet has included some new features. What could be more perfect timing to give competition to Zoom? The company says that almost 120 million students and teachers use the G Suite for education purposes. So, with the lockdown continuing, Google Meet has tried to make it better for the world.

Whoever is using G Suite for Education and G Suite Enterprise for Education will get premium features for free. And, this offer continues till 30th September 2020. Some of the features include conducting a meeting that can accommodate 250 participants, live streaming for 100,000 viewers (within your domain), and recording meetings followed by saving it in the Google Drive.

Google also claims that all data is encrypted in transit between the customers and the company. This might trigger the audience to use the platform of Google Meet. It is because of the recent compromise in Zoom’s security a few weeks ago. People care about their privacy and they are going to look for the best option.