Google Hangouts rolled out on May 15th, 2013, and is expected to shut down soon. The service would have suffered from the multiplication of similar applications in the same ecosystem. You may not have known it, but Hangouts is still active, but app set up by Google in 2013 will not have much longer, however.
Google Hangouts To Shut Down In 2020
At least that is what the 9to5Google site indicates, which, according to reliable sources, states that the service will close in 2020. So you would have a whole year at your disposal to use Google Hangouts if you feel like it, although most users have already ditched the platform. The service no longer supports third-party applications, so it is, therefore, no longer possible to create new ones with APIs.
The proliferation of instant messaging apps has not helped Google Hangouts adoption, especially since Google put the app in the background as it focused on the development of Google Duo and Allo.
In other news, Google would now like to transform Android Messages into an RCS client, a protocol that is supposed to replace SMS.
Google’s Scott Johnston Disagrees The News
Scott Johnston, who is working on the software suite including Hangouts Meet, Chat and Google Voice, said no specific decisions had been made in this regard within Google. According to him, Google Hangouts users will be upgraded to Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet.
“I run Hangouts, and this is pretty shoddy reporting. No decisions made about when Hangouts will be shut down. Hangouts users will be upgraded to Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet. Your source is severely misinformed. You can do better,” said Scott Johnston on Twitter, replying to the article posted by 9to5Google.
Visibly annoyed about the 9to5Google report, Johnston, nevertheless, confirmed in another answer that the “classic” Google Hangouts version would eventually shut down. We can imagine that Google is waiting to put in place a concrete alternative (other than Google Allo, as the app is not at all popular) before making a decision.
