Google Chat replacing Google Hangouts for everyone next year

[Bapun]

Google Chat for everyone coming next year​

Next year, Chat will become available as a free service—both in the integrated experience in Gmail and the Chat standalone app. Chat includes familiar Hangouts features like direct and group messaging, with helpful additions like send to inbox, faster search, emoji reactions and suggested replies. With Chat, you can more easily plan with others on goals and similar interests, share and collaborate on files, and assign tasks to help keep everyone on the same page. In addition, Chat features the same strong phishing protections we built in Gmail, so if a link is sent to you via Chat, it will be checked against real-time data from Safe Browsing and flagged if it’s found to be malicious.

Starting in the first half of 2021, everyone can begin upgrading from Hangouts to Chat. To ensure a smooth transition, we will help automatically migrate your Hangouts conversations, along with contacts and saved history. We'll share more specific guidance on what steps you can take when we begin the transition process.

We will help automatically migrate your Hangouts conversations, along with contacts and saved history.

The latest on Google Hangouts and the upgrade to Google Chat

 

[Bapun]

This was a long time due to be honest. Hangouts is an abdononed project by Google similar to how they did with Google+.

 

[Esmail]

They should merge Duo also with it and make it a universal comunication app.

 

[iSK]

They should merge Duo also with it and make it a universal comunication app.

But as per news Duo is merging with Meet .

 

[Siva]

As part of Hangouts' long, drawn-out death, Google is also pulling the plug on the imaginatively titled Call Phones feature, which lets you place a phone call in Hangouts via Google Voice. It was mostly free, but you did have to pay for certain call types. With the feature set to expire by next month, Google is now sending out emails regarding refunds for any remaining balance you might have, and you can trigger the process manually as well.

Google starts refunding Hangouts call credits ahead of feature shutdown

 

[Siva]

As noted by 9to5Google Google Chat for web is now being made available to personal accounts. To check if you've got access, simply head over to Sign in - Google Accounts. If you're a part of the non-paying crowd that has gotten early access to Chat, you should see the new Gmail-like UI interface.

Google Chat for web is now rolling out to personal accounts

 

[Bapun]

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. In July, people who use Hangouts in Gmail on the web will be upgraded to Chat in Gmail.

Upgrading from Google Hangouts to Google Chat

Google Hangouts is being upgraded to Google Chat. Users will be prompted to switch to Chat in Gmail or the Chat app.

blog.google

 

[OnlyTech]

Users can download a copy of all their Hangouts data before November through Google's Takeout service.

Google Hangouts to shut down in November this year