Google Chat to replace Hangouts by next year

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.