Google's plan to phase out classic Hangouts has come to an end. Over the last two years, the company has been gradually transitioning customers from Hangouts to Google Chats, and it has now stated that Chat will replace classic Hangouts for Workspace users in a month.
Starting Mar. 22, Google will "turn on the 'Chat preferred' setting for any customers who haven't already done so," according to a recent blog post. This will make Google Chat the default chat application, and users will be redirected to Chat if they visit classic Hangouts in Gmail on the web or the classic Hangouts mobile apps.
The web version of Hangouts will remain operational, but the Android and iOS apps will be deactivated. Furthermore, Google states that users will be unable to opt-out of this change.
Based on the admin console settings, Google has also indicated a specific schedule for this change. If the admin console is set to "Chat and classic Hangouts," the upgrade to "Chat preferred" will occur over a three-week period beginning Mar. 22. However, if the admin console is set to "Classic Hangouts only," the change will take place over a five-week period beginning Apr. 4.
Once the domains are converted to "Chat preferred," the "Chat and classic Hangouts" and "Classic Hangouts only" settings will be deleted from the Admin panel.
The transition from Google Hangouts to Google Chat is the latest step in Google's ever-evolving communications strategy, which becomes increasingly perplexing the more you learn about it. This migration began in June 2020 and is focused on the messaging service that is linked with Gmail. Google Chat is not to be confused with GChat, the unofficial name for Google Talk, which was discontinued in 2017 and replaced by Hangouts.
Existing Hangouts chat history will be carried over to Chat, with the exception of "a few special cases," according to Google. Although there is no way to opt-out of this move, Google says the hangouts.google.com domain will remain operational.
Google has been working hard to improve its Workspace station, which contains Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Meet, Chat, and other services. At its core, Gmail aims to be the primary hub, offering integrated features like as Chats and Meet, eliminating the need for users to download a separate app. The standalone app, however, will provide access to more settings and features.
For the time being, only Workspace users, as well as older G Suite Basic and Business subscribers, are affected by this change. It affects people who use Google's services as part of a business or organization, in other words. However, as 9to5Google points out, Google has previously stated that free Google Account users will experience the same change as Workspace users.
