Google launches ‘Chat’ service as PWA for devices running Chrome 73 or later version

Progressive Web Apps or PWAs, for those unaware, give you a near app-like interface but are based on the web pages and don’t take up space on your phone. One doesn’t even have to care about regular app updates. We already have several PWA apps in the market and adding to the list is Google Chat. As announced in a blog post, the PWA is available on any desktop with Google Chrome web browser.

“Users can install the standalone app, or administrators can deploy the app to their organization. If you're part of the Accelerated Transition Program, users who previously had the classic Hangouts extension or app are redirected to the new Chat standalone app,” adds the dedicated support page.

Also read: Google Meet free version now available, integration with Gmail starts rolling out for GSuite users

The Google Chat app is kept up to date with Chrome and can run on any device that has Google Chrome browser version 73 (released in March this year). This means that it can work on Windows, macOS, ChromeOS and Linux devices. Also, Chrome doesn’t have to be your default browser for the app to work. As for the existing desktop app, Google recommends admins to uninstall it and ask users to install the PWA version.

In April this year, the search giant renamed the Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat services to Google Meet and Google Chat. Google's 'classic' Hangouts has been around since years and has held a prominent place in Gmail as well. The app has even received over a billion downloads on Android. With the introduction of Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet (which are now Google Chat and Meet) in 2017, Google said it will be retiring the 'classic' Hangouts, which did not happen until earlier this year.