Nov 30, 2018 - Technology

Report: Google to shut down Hangouts in 2020

Marisa Fernandez

Google suite apps including youtube, chrome, hangouts, gmail etc. — Photo: Chesnot/Getty Images.

Google Hangouts will shut down sometime in 2020, according to a scoop from 9to5Google.

Why it matters: Hangouts had lost some of its footing on the instant messaging medium since its rename and redesign from GChat that started in 2013, and has overall slowed its app development. A handful of other chat mediums that have launched since then, and workplace behemoth Slack surpassed 8 million daily paid users in May, per TechCrunch.

The details per 9to5: "Hangouts as a brand will live on with G Suite’s Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet, the former intended to be a team communication app comparable to Slack, and the latter a video meetings platform."

Google Voice calling was moved back out of Hangouts earlier this year as it was launched originally.

Full Google statement:

In March 2017, we announced plans to evolve classic Hangouts to focus on two experiences that help bring teams together: Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet. Both Chat and Meet are available today for G Suite customers and will be made available for consumer users, too. We have not announced an official timeline for transitioning users from classic Hangouts to Chat and Meet. We are fully committed to supporting classic Hangouts users until everyone is successfully migrated to Chat and Meet.

Add Axios on Google

Report: Google to shut down Hangouts in 2020

What to read next