Learn about the switch from Google Hangouts to Google Chat (2024)

FAQs

Learn about the switch from Google Hangouts to Google Chat? ›

Google Hangouts will be replaced by two services, Google Chat and Google Meet. Google Chat is Google's answer to Slack or Microsoft Teams allowing users to send messages direct, via a group (known as a room) or to a bot in order to initiative a background service which will report back with information.

Upgrading Google Hangouts to Google Chat gives users a single messaging solution and better integration across Google Workspace.

Google Chat is the next evolution of Hangouts. It grants that same one-on-one communication but expands on it to be more effective in a business setting. Important features available in Hangouts like read receipts, video and audio conferencing, and image sharing are all available through Chat.

First, 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.

Google Chat is a messaging application that allows businesses and individuals to collaborate and stay connected. Formerly known as "Google Hangouts," this app has over 10 million downloads on Google Play alone, making it a popular choice.

“Google will stop allowing new chats to be initiated starting on July 15, 2024 and then will totally disable the chat and call history features on July 31, 2024. You can download your chat and call history from Google Business Profiles, so you can store them somewhere. At some point, Google will delete the history.”

Is Google Chat Safe? Google Chat offers several built-in security features like end-to-end encryption and automatic phishing detection, giving users a decent guarantee of protection. Like many messaging apps, the provider uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt messages sent between devices and its servers.

How do I see if someone is online? If you look at your recent chat contacts, or search for a user, you may see a colored dot next to their name. You may need to invite a user to chat before you can see their status.

Here are some troubleshooting tips if you're still having trouble making calls in Google Chat: Make sure that you have the latest version of Google Chat installed. Check your app permissions to make sure that Google Chat can access your microphone and camera. Restart your computer or phone.

Google Hangouts was Google's free messaging and video chat service. It was replaced by Google Chat and Google Meet. Google Hangouts Chat was Google's paid team chat service for users with a Google Workspace account. It's now just called Google Chat.

What is good about Google Chat? ›

Google Chat streamlines business and team communication in real-time.It also enhance real-time group chatting by sending instant messages.It is simple to share files with Google Chat.

Google rolled it out as an upgrade, rather than a switch, to make it easy on users. You should still have all your contacts and chat histories. But you may have noticed that it is a more Slack-like experience.

As a reaction to the 2020 global pandemic, Google Meet became available for all users, and Google Chat replaced Hangouts in 2022.

The reason for Google discontinuing the "Hangouts" feature was to consolidate its messaging services into two separate products, "Google Meet" and "Google Chat." Google Meet is focused on video conferencing for business and education purposes, while Google Chat is a messaging app designed for collaboration and ...

The service fell out of favor with Google's legendarily fickle messaging strategy in 2016 with the launch of Google Allo. Google announced in 2018 that Hangouts would eventually be shut down.

Google Chat was first launched as Hangouts Chat on March 9, 2017, for Google Workspace (called G Suite until October 2020) customers only as a replacement for Google Hangouts.

In April 2021, Google Chat indeed became free as an "Early Access" service, for users who choose to use it instead of Hangouts. On June 27, 2022, Google officially announced they would be shutting down Google Hangouts on November 1, 2022 and migrating all users to Google Chat.

Initially, the service was only available to Google Workspace customers, but in February 2021, Google started offering Google Chat to regular consumer accounts in “early access” until it was fully available in April 2021. Google replaced the original Hangouts with Chat and deprecated it on November 1, 2022.