Google Is Reportedly Working on a New Chat App

I wish I was joking, but Google is working on yet another messaging app. The company is reportedly building a new messaging app for businesses.

According to a new report from The Information, Google’s Cloud division is working on this new messaging app for businesses. The new mobile app aims to offer a unified experience for Google Cloud users, bringing the company’s different services together.

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Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian apparently discussed the new app at a conference recently. The new app will bring together the functionalities of Google’s other standalone apps. This will include Google Drive, messages with Hangouts Chat, and video calling with Hangouts Meet.

Google will also include Google Calendar integration, but users will have to access that via the standalone Google Calendar app. Google hopes to offer an alternative to the likes of Microsoft Teams and Slack with its new messaging app. It will be part of Google’s G Suite service, meaning it will be completely focused on business users.

Whatever this new app is called will be joining Google’s growing list of messaging apps. The idea of offering a unified experience does sound quite promising, but that is only if Google doesn’t replace it with another new messaging app a few years down the line.

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Conversation 20 comments

  • rossdelliott

    Premium Member
    28 January, 2020 - 6:02 pm

    <p>You should just go ahead and create a new post called "Google Is Reportedly Killing Their New Chat App"; it will save you some time later…</p>

  • wbhite

    Premium Member
    28 January, 2020 - 6:13 pm

    <p>I remember, way back in the day, when new Google product announcements (or even speculation) excited me. Now it makes me chuckle.</p>

  • darkgrayknight

    Premium Member
    28 January, 2020 - 7:02 pm

    <p>How about actually improving existing messaging apps and/or combining them into a single system with maybe different features that can be turned off or on depending on users' needs? I think Google really just doesn't have any actual direction. They toss out ideas and products to see if anything sticks enough to warrant keeping it. If it fails whatever their current threshold is, it gets put on the dying soon list and killed whenever it is most convenient for them (not the users using it).</p>

  • robert_wood

    28 January, 2020 - 7:20 pm

    <p>A few years down the line? More like a few days down the line. Oh Google. </p>

  • dcdevito

    28 January, 2020 - 7:34 pm

    <p>Don’t they already have Hangouts and Meet? Good grief Charlie Brown, Google is an absolute joke nowadays. </p>

  • Stooks

    28 January, 2020 - 7:49 pm

    <p>Google is an advertising company. Everything else they do is lame. They keep reminding us with this kind of silliness. </p>

  • Chris_Kez

    Premium Member
    28 January, 2020 - 8:42 pm

    <p>Sweet Christmas, these guys are killing me! As an early adopter enterprise client we’ve been living through the transition from Hangouts to Chat+Meet for nearly TWO YEARS, and Google has said they won’t sunset Hangouts until June at the earliest. Now we’re looking down the barrel of <em>another</em> messaging app? ??</p><p>Having used Chat all this time, though, I can see the need for something better. I just wish they had been improving their existing app so it can actually be used as the collaboration tool they promised.</p>

  • Pungkuss

    28 January, 2020 - 10:42 pm

    <p>Isn't this new app just a hub, not really a chat app. I know it's funny if you report this as a chat app, fits the narrative. The app it's a hub for G-Suite enterprise apps. Requested by enterprise customers. A easy way to access and administrate across all G-Suite products.</p>

  • doon

    Premium Member
    28 January, 2020 - 10:45 pm

    <p>Wondering if it will be encrypted.</p>

  • Paul Thurrott

    Premium Member
    29 January, 2020 - 8:02 am

    <p>Guys. We don't allow personal attacks, as I'm sure everyone knows. I'm cleaning this up.</p>

  • ronh

    Premium Member
    29 January, 2020 - 9:44 am

    <p>How about fixing Google Home so I don't need to keep restarting it…</p><p>Fix Chromecast video that loses connection to the phone….</p>

  • dspeterson

    Premium Member
    29 January, 2020 - 12:25 pm

    <p>I have been wondering when Google would do something to compete with Slack/Teams, it seems weird to just cede that market to someone else.</p>

  • datameister

    29 January, 2020 - 10:17 pm

    <p>This is Google's plan for chat.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Google: </strong>"People say MSN Messenger is a hot item. John, go build it and work it into our search stuff if you can."</p><p><br></p><p><em>… some time passes</em></p><p><strong>Google: </strong>"Hey, someone said this Skype thing is taking the world by storm. Robert, go build it."</p><p><strong>John:</strong> "Hey, what about my stuff?" <strong>Google: </strong>"What were you doing? Just go help Robert."</p><p><br></p><p><em>… more time passes</em></p><p><strong>Google:</strong> "Apple keeps talking about iMessage. April, go build something like it."</p><p><br></p><p><em>… even more time passes</em></p><p><strong>Google:</strong> "I hear Slack is awesome. Fred, go build us something to match."</p><p><br></p><p><em>… some time in the future</em></p><p><strong>Google:</strong> "This SuperDuper Chat thing is cool. Janice, go build something to compete."</p><p><br></p><p><em>… even further into the future</em></p><p><strong>Google:</strong> "Someone told me the Uber Chat is da bomb. Jack, go build one."</p><p><br></p>

  • phil_adcock

    30 January, 2020 - 12:04 am

    <p>I actually liked hangouts when it integrated with Google voice. I could SMS text my friends, from the comfort of my desk, video chat with the wife and colleagues and it was all in on app. For about a year I gave out my Voice number as my real cell number because of how great it worked, when they announced they where killing the functionality, I started embracing my iphone and started giving out it's actually number. Now my Google Voice is my I think you are going to spam me but you need a real number acct.</p>

  • Jeffsters

    31 January, 2020 - 9:06 am

    <p>Great! Now Google can collect your data in real-time! Sign me up!</p>

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