Earlier this year, Google began moving people away from the Workspace version of Hangouts. That long, semi-messy process only recently ended. Now non-Workspace users are next.
As of today, people using the free version of Google Hangouts will see messages asking them to switch to Chat. The speed at which you will need to switch will depend on the platform. Here’s what it looks like:
- Mobile applications: You will see a message starting today. Upon acceptance of the request, you will switch to Chat and the Hangouts application will stop working.
- chrome extension: You’ll see a request today, but Hangouts will continue to work until October 2022. Google will suggest that you install the Chat progressive web application (PWA) or use the web interface at chat.google.com.
- Hangouts in Gmail: The new Chat sidebar will be launched in July.
- Web interface: The regular hangouts.google.com site will run until October 2022.
Similarly, you have until October 2022 to export your data from Google Hangouts using the Google Takeout tool. You will lose your data if you do not do so before then. However, this does not apply to people using the Hangouts mobile applications, as that data should be automatically transferred to the Chat applications.
If you are confused about the differences between Hangouts and Chat, Google has a useful page for that. Chat will also soon have features that Hangouts has never had before, including direct calls and the ability to send and receive multiple images at once.