Google Chat to replace Hangouts by next year

Google will migrate all Hangouts users to Chat by the first half of 2021.

Google Hangouts (Google)

Google has announced new updates and changes for Chat and Hangouts. The new changes are a part of the company's move to replace Chat with Hangouts. It will affect Google Workspace (G Suite), and free users as well.

Google Chat which is exclusive to G Suite customers for now is becoming free for everyone next year. At present, non G Suite users have access to Hangouts. Google Chat is similar to Hangouts but with better features. Some of these features include send to Inbox, faster search, emoji reactions and suggested replies. Google Chat also makes it easier to share and collaborate on files, and assign tasks to team members.

The transition from Google Hangouts to Chat will begin in the first half of 2021. All your Hangouts conversations, contacts and saved history will be migrated as well.

Google Hangouts transition to Chat. (Google)

Google Hangouts transition to Chat. (Google)

Google is also removing the call phones feature from Hangouts in the EU and US. This is due to new telecommunications regulations in these regions. Google will start informing users of the change along with guidance on getting refunds from this month onwards. By early next year, this feature will be completely removed.

Google is also removing Fi support in Hangouts. Google is moving the calling and SMS experience for Fi users to its Messages app. Another change is removing Google Voice support in Hangouts. All calls and text messaging support for Hangouts Voice users will be completely transferred to the Voice app. Google is also fastening the process for admins to migrate all users to Chat in Google Workspace.