It's been known for some time that Google is shutting down its own messaging app, Google Hangouts. Now, after a few months of waiting, the tech giant has announced an official date for the shutdown of Hangouts.
According to an official announcement by Google in a blog post, it has been stated that the shutdown of Hangouts for all G-suite in October 2019. In simpler words, customers or companies that use and pay for advanced applications and services will be forced to move from the classic Hangouts app to the new Hangouts Chat app in October.
On the other hand, for users who have not paid for any premium Google services, no exact date has been set for the transition yet. The company has stated that it will continue to support the use of the classic Hangouts app while the transition to the new app for G-suite users takes place! In particular, according to some sources, it is expected that users (non-G-suite) will be able to use the classic Hangouts until 2020.
But if you're a G-Suite user, between April and September 2019, the Mountain View, California-based company will introduce a series of changes, including steps like enabling Hangout Chat via Gmail, mobile, web, or the Chrome extension. It will also include features from classic Hangouts, before Google shuts down the app for G-Suite users in October.
It should be noted that Hangouts is the only app that the company is deciding to close. In addition, it is expected that Chat and Meet will be separated and the Google Allo mobile app will be closed in March 2019. Finally, let's mention that efforts will continue to launch the video chat app, Duo, in 2019!
