Google Hangouts going away isn’t really news as we already knew this was coming but now we have a time frame. Google has an uncanny ability to create a product that people invest themselves into then pull the plug. There are plenty of examples of this with Google+ being the last behind Google Hangouts.
While today’s news doesn’t completely shut down the consumer version of Google Hangouts, it does start the process. Google announced they will begin phasing out the Classic version of Hangouts for G Suite users and transition them into Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet. So while the consumer Hangouts isn’t yet gone, the company says it will shift
While there are other services you can migrate over to that Google offers, many had settled into Hangouts and enjoyed it. Google does say that they will support Classic Google Hangouts until all users have migrated to Chat and Meet or something else. Most have agreed that 2019 will be the last year for Hangouts as we know it and 2020 will see it closed down.
Early reports of how Hangouts Chat may be received by its Classic-loyal consumer base indicate it may be a bit bumpy. As Ars Technica notes, “Google’s ‘transition plan’ is worrying—Hangouts Chat isn’t even a good Slack clone yet.” But there’s still a good amount of time between now and when the company will be migrating its consumers to the newer product, so there’s hope yet.
Catie Keck – Gizmodo
Many users have already abandoned Google Hangouts and Google+ due to their eminent demise. I’ve stopped using both platforms seeing no point in continuing to invest time into a dead product.
What about you? Do you still use Hangouts and Google+? Or have you moved on as well? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook. You can also comment on our MeWe page by joining the MeWe social network.
[button link=”https://gizmodo.com/bad-news-folks-google-hangouts-will-start-to-phase-out-1832004549″ icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Gizmodo[/button]Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
