Google is shutting down Hangouts for G Suite. The company now plans to put those resources into its other two messaging apps, Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet.
Hangouts for G Suite is just the latest casualty of the company’s ongoing app purge. Google+ was also swept up by the company’s efforts recently. After a massive data breach, the company decided to shut it down sooner than previously planned.
The change to Hangouts won’t happen immediately. Google plans to split the functionalities of Hangouts for G Suite between the two other apps in October, so those who use it have plenty of time to prepare for its demise. Google is now advising administrators to begin transitioning their users to the two new apps. Now that Google is shutting down Hangouts for G Suite, users will have to adapt to the Chat and Meet apps.
The first important date for administrators to note is April 16. Some changes will be required at that time. Google plans to transition the features of classic Hangouts between April 16 and an as-yet-unknown date in October.
“We will continue to support consumer use of classic Hangouts, and expect to transition consumers to free Chat and Meet following the transition of G Suite customers. A more specific timeline will be communicated at a later date,” Google announced in a blog post.
The company added that those who choose to stay on the classic Hangouts app until the transition period is over will be able to see the changes in the settings and other features of the app, which will match those of Hangouts Chat.
Google encourages users to make the transition from classic Google Hangouts to Hangouts Chat and Meet as soon as the process begins. However, not all the features will be added immediately, so it may be safer to make the change closer to the end of the transition period so you don’t miss out on some features. Here are the features Google is planning as part of the transition:
- Integration with Gmail
- Chatting with external users
- Improved video calling experience
- Making calls with Google Voice
Google is shutting down Hangouts for G Suite in October, which means business users of the messaging service now know when they must switch to the new services. It’s still unclear when the consumer version of Google Hangouts will go away, but that’s probably not going to happen before business users are settled in with Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet.
