In late 2021, classic Hangouts will stop working for enterprise Workspace customers and only Google Chat will be available. Google is now beginning that process of deprecating the Hangouts app and website for free personal accounts with a warning and sign out.
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Last month, Google announced a revamp of all its emoji — nearly 1,000 characters — coming to Android 12 this fall and Chrome OS 92. These new emoji designs are also set to arrive in Google Chat over the coming weeks.
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Google Chat conversations let you quickly schedule a Calendar event, add a file from Drive, or start a Meet call. The secondary file and image-sharing options in Google Chat can now be disabled by Workspace admins.
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As of last month, all personal Google Accounts can enable the new Gmail that supports Chat and Rooms. The latter aspect, which will soon be renamed to “Spaces,” allows for large-scale productivity. Gmail now supports opening a Google Slides presentation directly to allow for multitasking with Chat.
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Google has a multi-stage plan to shut down classic Hangouts and move enterprise Workspace customers to Chat. This latest step in advancing Google Chat adoption takes place next month.
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The writing has been on the wall for Google Hangouts for some time now, but soon Hangouts will begin warning of the app’s upcoming shutdown and migration to Chat.
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In addition to different applications being accessible all on one page, Google’s vision for the future of productivity involves having those services be tightly integrated together. The latest example of this will see Google suggestions for 1:1s in Chat based on Calendar.
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Last month, Google started rolling out an online revamp of Chat to free consumer accounts as part of the classic Hangouts migration. That Google Chat web redesign is now coming to paid Workspace users over the coming weeks with a number of enhancements.
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Following the official launch last week, Google Chat is picking up improved search. Starting on Android, the experience is adding filters to “help you find artifacts like files and links more easily.”
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Last year, Google announced that the future of Gmail will see Chat messaging and group Rooms join the existing Meet video calling integration. This is already available to enterprise Workspace users, and Google is now letting personal Gmail accounts get this “integrated workspace.”
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A key part of Google’s integrated vision for productivity is routing everything through the Gmail apps. As part of Workspace becoming available “for everyone,” Gmail is getting streamlined navigation on the web, while Google Chat’s “Rooms” will soon be called “Spaces.”
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In unveiling “Smart canvas” at I/O 2021, Google called it the “next big step” in the future of work. The goal is to create a more integrated and interactive Workspace experience, especially in Google Docs.
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Google’s apps for messaging and video calling, Google Meet and Google Chat, will soon be installed by default on Chrome OS devices.
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In addition to a web revamp, Google Chat is rolling out more notification settings over the coming weeks. These new options are “based on your level of engagement or involvement in specific conversations.”
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Back in May, chat.google.com received a Progressive Web App to replace the previous desktop client. The Google Chat Electron app will stop working at the end of March with users encouraged to upgrade now.
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Last month, Google started rolling out a free version of Google Chat ahead of classic Hangouts going away. The “early preview” of Google’s latest consumer messaging service is now widely appearing for more users.
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Last week, we spotted how the Google Chat website was getting some tweaks and Hangouts-style chat windows. This redesign of Google Chat is now rolled out for free accounts and is interestingly directly part of Gmail.
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A free version of Google Chat is officially set to arrive in the first half of 2021. As we spotted earlier this month, Google is starting the Hangouts migration with a “preview of the new Chat” for free, personal accounts.
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Google wants to make Gmail your new “home for work” by consolidating email, Chat, and Meet into one browser window, as well as mobile app. That said, the company will maintain standalone applications for messaging and video calling, with Google Chat testing a web client redesign.
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For over two years now, we’ve known that Google was planning to kill off their classic Hangouts app in favor of opening Google Chat to those without Google Workspace. With the migration set to take place in the first half of 2021, Google Chat is preparing a beta test to open the app for Hangouts users to preview.
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One way to boost the adoption of Google Chat is by making it available directly in the email tab that users likely already have open. The Gmail web client now lets you resize the Google Chat and Rooms side widgets.
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Next year, Google Chat will go free ahead of the eventual deprecation of classic Hangouts. The Google Workspace team today is highlighting upcoming changes that will begin to launch later this week.
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In the integrated Gmail experience available to Workspace customers, classic Hangouts has already been swapped out. Google Chat is in its place, with conversations now able to be pinned for consistent Gmail sidebar access.
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After announcing new unthreaded rooms last week, Google Chat is now adding Calendar integration for streamlined event creation.
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