Google has been trying to integrate its chat platforms for sometime now. In 2019, Google announced that classic Hangouts will be replaced by Google Chat. Google Workspace users (aka enterprise customers) were the first to migrate from Hangouts to Google Chat, and now the Hangouts app is going away for free users as well. Here’s how the transition will work:
Who are the users who will be impacted in this phase
Google has now turned attention to free personal accounts that still have access to classic Hangouts. “Google Hangouts is being upgraded to Google Chat at the end of 2022 for those who haven’t already upgraded. Some people may have already moved to Google Chat and may no longer be able to use Google Hangouts on some platforms,” Google says on its support page.
What about users of Hangouts on the web
Google says that users who use Hangouts in Gmail on the web won’t start seeing prompts to make the switch to Chat until July. Hangouts will remain usable on the company’s desktop site till November 2020. Google says it will warn users “at least one month” in advance before moving them to Google Chat.
How will these users know
Those users who are on the old Hangouts mobile app will be prompted by an upgrade screen to use Chat in the Gmail app or the standalone Chat clients (Android and iOS). Upon receiving this: “It’s time for Chat in Gmail” message, the classic Hangouts app will stop working. Users will lose access to the Hangouts mobile app and can upgrade to Chat in Gmail or the Chat app. Users will lose access to the Hangouts Chrome extension on the web and can upgrade to Chat on the web or install the Chat web app.
What about chat backup
Hangouts on the web, including user conversations and history, will continue to be available. Access to Hangouts on the web will be available at least until October 2022. After this, users will be redirected to Chat on the web. Users can continue to use Google Takeout to download their data until at least November 2022.
Will all data be saved/backed up
As part of the migration of chats from Hangouts to Google Chat, some chats or portions of chats won’t automatically migrate from Hangouts to Chat. Google says that it will email impacted users with more information around September 2022. After October 2022, Hangouts on the web will be turned down and Hangouts data will be deleted
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