Google Hangout has been one of the primary chat platforms for Google for many years. In fact, it was used both for a professional and personal chat session. However, we all know Google’s messaging stack is not as refined as the competitors. Before the pandemic, the company had Meet, Chat, Hangouts, and Duo, all serving different purposes for the users. However, during the pandemic, the use of video calls increased by a lot and Google made Google Meet available to all.
It also led to the closure of many Google services as they were integrated into Google Meet and now being packaged as Google Workspace. Now the company has decided to phase out Google Hangouts as well from next year. Google has confirmed that Google Chats will be replacing Hangout and will be available to all the users for free. It will be used as a standalone app and also be integrated into Gmail.
Google Chat was a paid service which was earlier only available to the GSuite, now Google Workplace users. However, the new changes make it completely free for all the users. For users who will be moving to Google Chat, it provides all the features that you used in Google Hangout. Apart from that, you will have access to additional features for free like inbox, collaboration tools, suggested replies, faster search, and more. The closure of Hangout will not be sudden and users will be able to see the features closing down one by one until it is removed.