How To Make Google Hangouts Default Messaging App

Google Hangouts

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177 'Google Hangouts' stories

July 2011 - August 2021

Hangouts was announced at I/O 2013 and combined the company's disparate messaging platforms into one unified product. It includes the text elements of Google Talk and Google+ Messenger/Huddle, as well as the video portion of Google+ Hangouts.

Hangouts allows for group conversations with two or more people and can be accessed through Android and iOS apps, as well as the web in Gmail or the dedicated Hangouts site. Users can send images, video, stickers, and location, in addition to having group video calls with multiple people.

Until recently, Hangouts was the default messaging app on Android and handled SMS text messages. However, Google began pushing users to the dedicated Messenger SMS app and is introducing a new messaging app called Allo to replace the messaging parts of Hangouts and Duo for video.

Despite the new apps, Google has noted that Hangouts will remain as the company's messaging solution for corporate customers.

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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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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Back in October, Google detailed how it would move users of its previous messaging app to alternate services in 2021. As part of the migration, Google has shut down classic Hangouts integration with both Google Voice and Fi.

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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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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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Google told Fi subscribers last year that classic Hangouts would no longer support texting or calling in January. A week before the deadline, Google has pushed back that deadline for MVNO subscribers to March.

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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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Back in October, Google announced that Chat was going free next year as part of the eventual deprecation of classic Hangouts. The company detailed several transitions related to this, including a change to group video calling that brings Meet into the existing Hangouts app.

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In addition to announcing a Phone subscription program, Google today emailed Fi subscribers about how to "Move [their] conversations to Messages by Google." Support documents lay out in detail what to expect and that Fi texting in the Hangouts app will stop working at the start of next year.

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In June, the classic Hangouts to Google Chat migration started in earnest for G Suite customers. Free accounts are expected to get transitioned next, and there are now signs that this is underway. Over the past few days, classic Hangouts users are receiving messages in Google Chat.

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In May 2017, the vast majority of Android users lost the ability to use Hangouts as an SMS/MMS client. Google Fi subscribers were exempted, but that support could be coming to an end as the eventual deprecation of classic Hangouts nears.

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Last week, Google started migrating G Suite users away from classic Hangouts to Google Chat with the legacy service shutting down in "late 2020" for enterprise. The latest version of Google Voice for Android today provides some insight into the transition for regular users.

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The branding around Hangouts — in 2020, that means Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet — is a mess. Those two brands are derivatives of a pre-existing brand that never made much sense in the first place. In today's suddenly-video-conferencing-centric world, Google needs to simplify things, and a new support page update suggests that change is finally coming.

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Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many are using video conferencing to work and learn remotely. For Google, its Meet service is seeing the brunt of use by enterprise and education customers. Classic Hangouts was updated on iOS today with a warning that video quality might be reduced.

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Google Hangouts wasn't critically acclaimed in the way it probably should have been, and as Google's messaging mess continues, the service is scheduled to eventually split into other products. Hangouts as we know it is on its death bed, but apparently, that isn't stopping Google from rolling out a new user reporting feature.

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Starting in April, Google will begin winding down Hangouts classic for G Suite and eventually regular users. The latter transition is not set to begin until later this year, with Google working on porting over features to Hangouts Chat. In the meantime, Hangouts for Android was just updated with support for Oreo's notification channels.

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Alongside initial details on the transition of G Suite users from classic Hangouts to Hangouts Chat & Meet, Google is also giving us just a little bit more info on the transition from 'classic' Hangouts to free Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet for consumers.

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Over the past week, the narrative around Google's messaging and communication services has been defined by a spate of planned deprecations — both of which9to5Google first reported about. While older services will be "sunset," the company's vision for consumers hasn't changed much since earlier this year, revolving around RCS "Chat" and Google Duo video calling.

However, complicating this dual-service future now is the newly-revealed fact that the enterprise-focused Hangouts Chat and Meet will also be available to consumers, and that Google Voice is still an active service. This is just the latest in Google's tangled and sometimes incoherent strategy for simply saying "Hello."

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Over the past several days, 9to5Google reported that Google was planning to move away from "classic Hangouts" and sunset Google Allo. Amid the discussion about the company's messaging future, Google today clarified its strategy, and published a definite blog post confirming our two reports.

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According to source familiar with the product's internal roadmap, Google Hangouts for consumers will be shutting down sometime in 2020. That's not surprising at all since Google essentially ceased development on the app more than a year ago. But just know, going into 2019, this is indeed your last year to keep using the beloved (?) legacy chat app.

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While many in the Android and Google-fan communities used and loved (well, sometimes loved) Hangouts for messaging others from mobile and desktop, Google is now shifting the app's focus to enterprise. In its place is Allo, which only started working on the web this week. Although we can't help you get Hangouts back, we can help you make Allo look similar to the Hangouts web client…

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Google announced last week that it intends to deprecate SMS functionality in Hangouts, and now an update is rolling out which prepares users of the messaging platform to switch SMS apps. Hangouts 18 doesn't seem to have any functional changes, but it does add the necessary components to help educate users on the forthcoming transition…

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Earlier this month, Google finally announced its rebranded Hangouts Chat focussed on the enterprise. With the company also showing renewed focus on Android Messages as the platform's defacto RCS client, it makes sense for Hangouts to eventually lose its SMS capabilities. In an email reportedly sent to G Suite administrators, that change will take place in May.

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Google unveiled its new enterprise-focused Hangouts apps yesterday, but that announcement leaves the big question of what will happen to the current consumer app (which many people use every day). At least for now, Google's Head of Product for Allo and Duo says that the current consumer Hangouts is "not going anywhere."

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Earlier today Google filled us in on its plan to bring Hangouts to the Enterprise. Essentially, Google will refocus Hangouts so as to provide G Suite customers with a Slack alternative. This change, though, will remove much of the current app's core functionality that users rely on.

So now that Google is changing up Hangouts (and assuming the current app goes away), what app do you plan to switch to for your IM and SMS needs?

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With the launch of Allo and Duo, Google telegraphed last year that Hangouts would be moving to a more enterprise focus. Today, the service is finally seeing that major revamp, with the app being split into Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet. The former is a Slack-like group chat tool, while the latter improves the video conferencing experience.

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Google has today launched yet another communication app (via TechCrunch), this time for business. It's called "Meet by Google Hangouts," and it's made for high-definition video calls between as many as 30 people. It seems Google may have pushed this live by accident, since its page on the G Suite website still isn't up. Or perhaps they would just rather keep it quiet…

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While notable, Monday's update of Google Voice was basically just a Material redesign that lacked any new major functionality. The promise of "regular updates" is more significant, and Google has confirmed to us that one of those upcoming features is VoIP integration.

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