Update: Google might not be (fully) killing Hangouts after all. Instead, it will be launching consumer versions of Hangouts Meet and Chat and eventually move users of the “classic” Hangouts to Hangouts Meet and Chat. A Google spokesperson sent us the following statement:
“In March 2017, we announced plans to evolve classic Hangouts to focus on two experiences that help bring teams together: Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet. Both Chat and Meet are available today for G Suite customers and will be made available for consumer users, too. We have not announced an official timeline for transitioning users from classic Hangouts to Chat and Meet. We are fully committed to supporting classic Hangouts users until everyone is successfully migrated to Chat and Meet.”Â
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Original story follows.
Google will soon be killing Hangouts, the company’s infamous messaging app. 9to5Google reports that the company will be shutting down Hangouts in 2020.
The app, which has long been neglected by the company, still resides in the new Gmail. The mobile apps for the service, on the other hand, continue to show sign of age. Google will reportedly keep the Hangouts brand alive with enterprise-focused Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet apps available through G Suite.
Google has already tried a bunch of other messaging apps since Hangouts, and it almost became a running joke. The company still makes Allo, which never really took off, and it has recently started investing in RCS, with the new Chat/Android Messages app, which acts almost like Android’s iMessage.
With Google (hopefully) continuing to invest into RCS and Chat/Android Messages, it’s clear there is no need for Hangouts or even Allo, and the company taking the service down makes a lot of sense. I’m just not sure why it is waiting till 2020 to kill it off, though.
Bats
<blockquote><em><a href="#375661">In reply to JaseCutler:</a></em></blockquote><p>Everything you just said, Google can do and redo in Messages. Now that VZW is totally committed to RCS, I can see Google transforming Messages to be like Allo, with Hangouts features. </p><p><br></p><p>Allo is really Google's darling because of the technology they want to incorporate in it and the features that could complete with WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. That had always been their goal. Hangouts could not do that. iMessage is nothing to Google. That's only for iPhone users. It shouldn't even be in the conversation. The reason Allo didn't work is because of the issues with SMS and having to download the App. Plus Hangouts users could not initially access the app via web. Again, with VZW on board with RCS, American users can have the best of both worlds (Allo and Hangouts). As a result, Google is finally getting what they want.</p>
Stooks
<blockquote><em><a href="#375676">In reply to Bats:</a></em></blockquote><p>"iMessage is nothing to Google"</p><p><br></p><p>Actually Google wished they had iMessage so badly. I know lots of iPhone users that will not leave simply because of iMessage. Google has tried and failed to create anything like it.</p>
Stooks
<p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">and it almost became a running joke"</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">No it is a joke. </span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This behavior from Google is exactly why I will not move over to Android or use any Google service seriously. You have no idea if it will be around in a year or if still around basically abandoned for the flavor of the month beta app/service.</span></p><p><br></p><p>I know a bunch of people that loved Inbox and now have to go back to Gmail proper. Reader, Voice, Picassa….etc…etc….etc. </p><p><br></p><p>Their digital content offerings are complete disaster. Youtube, Youtube Red, Youtube Gaming, Youtube Music, Youtube TV, Google Play Music, Google Play video.</p><p><br></p><p>Are they trying to turn off consumers on purpose?</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#375724">In reply to JG1170:</a></em></blockquote><p>I don't think we really know what Fuchsia will become or if it will ever be released as a product. Right now it appears to be in the bright-eyed "it will do everything, everywhere" stage. Before it becomes a real product, it will likely find a narrower focus. I suspect it won't end up being both an RTOS for embedded systems and a phone and productivity OS. Of course, only time will tell.</p>
dontbe evil
<blockquote><em><a href="#375801">In reply to MikeGalos:</a></em></blockquote><p>what's hangouts? … I bet next google chat product will be chrome only</p>
wocowboy
Premium Member<p>I guess people just don’t chat any more. All the one-on-one chat apps of yore, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, icq, Adium, iChat, and all the others I have forgotten have been eliminated, in favor of what? Regular text messaging? That seems to now be the only option people want for some reason. I really enjoyed logging onto my favorite chat app, seeing which of my friends was online and having a nice visit. There is no chat app right now where you can see if the person you want to communicate with is online or not, that is a function that I really miss. Now all that’s left is to send a text message, hope they are online and wait for a response. This is FAR less functionality than on the old apps, and a huge step backwards.</p>