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Rumor claims Google Hangouts will shut down in 2020 (updated)
Stop us if you've heard this one before: there's a report that Google is considering either launching or shutting down a messaging app. 9to5Google said that based on a "source familiar with the product's internal roadmap," Google Hangouts as a consumer product will come to an end in 2020. Whether or not that holds up remains to be seen, and Google isn't officially saying anything about the app's future, but the writing has been on the wall since... forever?
Google+ is dead, but its legacy lives on
Following the revelation of a security vulnerability that exposed the private data of up to 500,000 Google+ users, Google is finally ready to pull the plug on the consumer version of its troubled social network. Simply put, the company said Monday, Google+ has not achieved the broad consumer or developer adoption it had hoped for. Google even said that 90 percent of Google+ user sessions were lasting less than five seconds. This sums up the sad state of a service that, when it launched in 2011, Google dreamed of turning into a serious Facebook competitor.
Google's Hangouts Meet video calls are now available on tablets
Google has extended support for video calling on Hangouts Meet, its enterprise version of the chat service, to iOS and Android tablets. This comes almost a year since the company split Hangouts between Chat, for casual users, and Meet, which is geared toward corporate videoconferencing.
Google's video conferencing kit gets an AI camera and display
Google has been trying to get a seat in your board room this year, courtesy of its tools and products for meetings. In March, it pivoted its Hangouts app to businesses, following it up with a $5,000 interactive display with collaborative cloud features. Not content with the two-punch software and hardware combo, the big G is now taking another stab at video conferencing. Remember the Chromebox for meetings bundle the company dropped in 2014? Well, it's back, courtesy of some rebranding and a bunch of upgraded products.
The makers of HipChat are launching their Slack competitor, Stride
The Slack competitor space is a little crowded these days. There's Facebook's Workplace, Microsoft's Teams, Google Hangouts and Doist's Twist. Now, Atlassian, the maker of HipChat, is introducing another option -- Stride.
Google officially kills Gchat in favor of Hangouts
Google Talk, also known as Gchat, has officially been put out to pasture and replaced with Hangouts. The tech giant has been threatening to do so since March, so you've only yourself to blame for holding on to an internet messaging services from days gone by.
Google is ready to take over your office chat with Hangouts
Google's work of transitioning Hangouts from being its default chat app to a more business focus is nearly complete. First up is the formally announced Hangouts Meet. Sound familiar? That's because it semi-officially arrived at the first of the month. Now Google is ready to take it wide. At its core, Meet is all about making video conferencing faster and easier. That comes down to not needing any special software or logins for video chat -- just a shared link. No WiFi? No problem because people can dial in with a dedicated phone number too. So long as their organization is a G Suite Enterprise customer, of course. Meet will support video calls with up to 30 people.
Google Hangouts adds emoticon shortcuts for easy table-flipping
The latest version of Google Hangouts for Android (and the Chrome extension for Windows) adds something clever to your chatting experience: 20 new hidden emoticon shortcuts so you can properly express all those shruggie feelings and table-flipping rage moments. Less exciting than a quick way to add "deal with it" guy to your chat logs, the v13 update also adds an in-app browser for web links.
Google will 'increasingly focus' Hangouts on business customers
It's been more than three years since Google formally launched Hangouts. It was an effort to take the popular Google Talk IM app into the mobile age, but it came late to the party. Lots of competitors like Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger and iMessage were firmly entrenched in mobile chat by the time Hangouts came to life. Despite finally getting a chat and video-calling platform out for every platform, Google announced at its I/O developer conference earlier this year that it was trying again. A new video chat app, Duo, is now available, and a radical new text-based messaging app called Allo is coming soon. Ever since they were announced in May, Google users have wondered: What's to become of Hangouts?
Google Hangouts finally supports Apple Watch
The latest update for Hangouts on iOS won't tell you this, but Google's instant messaging app will play nicely with your Apple Watch now. What the change log does say, however, is that you can now reply to notifications in-line -- but that means following up via Apple's wearable is an option. You can pick from a handful of pre-written responses, but those don't include canned messages for telling your coworker to bring funky-flavored KitKat bars from Japan to CES. No, that's where using voice dictation comes in, silly. If your iOS gizmo hasn't updated yet, we've got you covered at the source link below.
Google now lets you join Hangouts as a guest, no account needed
The worst thing about organizing an online meeting is squabbling over platform. Should you choose WebEx? Skype? Google? Your decision just got a little easier. As of today, you no longer need to have a Google account to join a meeting Hosted on Hangouts -- just a link.
Google Hangouts for iOS gets a redesign, better performance
Frustrated with the Google Hangouts app on iOS from time to time? Us too. Mountain View updated the mobile software today with a refreshed UI and more. First, you'll likely notice the new coat of Material Design paint that tidies things up a bit. Heck, even the dialer got a redesign. There's also a new quick compose button that allows you to quickly send messages to the folks you chat with often. Access to images from the gallery, camera or emoji library is easier too, and you can now send multiple photos at once. The update includes the usual bug fixes and performance improvements, and the latter hopefully remedies a few of the headaches some of us at Engadget HQ have been experiencing lately. The goods are available now at iTunes, and the Android version is said to arrive shortly.
Google releases standalone Messenger app for Android
But what about Hangouts, you ask? Well, that application isn't going anywhere anytime soon, it would seem. Yet, Google isn't doing it any favors by outing a standalone version of Messenger, an app with very similar messaging features to the aforementioned. Messenger does come pre-installed on Android Lollipop, alongside Hangouts, but now it's available to devices running version 4.1 (or higher) of Google's operating system. As expected, you can use Messenger for SMS and MMS phone functions, in addition to being able to send and receive audio messages. The app is also quite elegant, since it does come with the new Material Design look. If you're running a compatible smartphone or tablet, Messenger is available to download from Google Play -- or you can grab the APK from here.
Google Voice offers web-based calls through Hangouts, no G+ profile needed
The rumor is that eventually we're going to see Google Voice merged completely into Hangouts, and that's getting even closer to becoming reality. You can now make phone calls via Hangouts directly from the Google Voice website, no Google+ necessary. As Mountain View's Alex Wiesen notes on G+, the new feature is listed as an option in the "phone to call with" drop-down box. It seems a bit minor, sure, especially when you consider that Hangouts is already how you make phone calls from within Gmail -- but any updates for the oft-neglected service are welcome, right?
Google Hangouts outage brings chatting to a halt (update: service restored)
If you've been having trouble with Google Hangouts today, you're not alone. The chat service has been experiencing issues, and the folks in Mountain View have confirmed the "service disruption." According to the Apps Status Dashboard, Google Talk and Sheets (spreadsheets) are having down time of their own, but there's no confirmation on the latter two applications. We're keeping an eye on things, and we'll be sure to update when more details become available.
Google says it's cracking down on third-party Google Voice apps, expanding SMS support in Hangouts early next year
Google didn't have much to say about Google Voice integration in its Hangouts app when it announced the latest version earlier this week, but the company's Nikhyl Singhal has filled in a few more details on his Google+ page today. Singhal notes that while the update (and its SMS support) only works with Google Voice numbers if you have the service enabled on your Sprint phone, it's "working to support SMS messages for all Google Voice phone numbers by early next year." He further goes on to say that the company is also working to offer Google Voice phone numbers outside the US and support MMS, but he's not going so far as to offer a timeline there, saying "we need to work with carriers and this can take some time." Beyond that, Singhal also confirmed that Google will now be more heavily enforcing its Terms of Service and cracking down on third-party apps that offer unauthorized calling and SMS services through Google Voice. Those app makers will apparently have until May 15, 2014 to transition their users to another service. As for the new Hangouts app itself, while it's available on the new Nexus 5, other Android users will still have to wait a bit longer for the update to show up in the Play Store.
Google Hangouts updated with SMS support, animated GIFs and auto enhance for video calls
Google's Vic Gundotra announced some improvements to Google Hangouts today, including support for SMS, animated GIFs and location sharing. While support for animated GIFs is sure to send the BuzzFeed faithful into a tizzy, it's SMS integration that's the truly major news. The feature was rumored to be coming in Android 4.4, which we already know will include support for changing the default SMS handler. Now you'll no longer have to use the separate SMS application included on your phone, text messages will simply be delivered to Hangouts the same way instant messages are. Obviously this is just one more step in Google's modularization of Android, slowly breaking apart the "stock" OS into easily installable bits. Unfortunately, there's still no word on integrating Google Voice with the burgeoning messaging platform. Location sharing is also being baked in, with a simple button (next to the button used to insert photos) that locates you on Google maps and lets you dump it into your open chat.
Daily Update for October 21, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Google Hangouts for iOS adds voice calling, Google Voice integration
Google has updated its Hangouts app with a number of VoIP features. The new version 1.3 allows iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users in the US and Canada to call US and Canadian phone numbers for free right from the app. Users can also call phone numbers in other countries for a cost. The update also adds more VoIP features in the way of allowing a Google Voice user to make phone calls to Google Voice numbers and receive phone calls to their Google Voice number. The move could make traditional phone carriers nervous as both features only require a data connection and mean that a subscriber isn't using their plan's minutes. Check out the release notes below to see all the features of the latest update. What's New in Version 1.3.0 See which of your friends is using Hangouts, and who can be reached right now Call phone numbers from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch (free to the US and Canada) Make and receive calls using your Google Voice number Send and receive animated GIFs that play inline Hangouts will temporarily turn down your music (instead of stopping it) when you receive an incoming message Hangouts is a free download.
Google Hangouts update teased in leaked screenshots, SMS integration incoming
Wondering what new features we'll see once Google official unveils the Nexus 5? Android Police has a hint: an overhauled, more comprehensive Hangouts app. A pair of leaked screenshots seem to deliver on a promise Google made back in May, and show evidence of an SMS integrated hangout app. An image of the app's conversation window shows that messages will be branded by their delivery method, including a "via SMS" tag next to the text's time stamp. It hints at a more unified communication platform for Android, but the settings page helpfully illustrates that using Hangouts for SMS is optional -- a check mark allows the feature to be cleanly disabled for those who prefer to keep their conversations segregated. Although these shots line up with previous rumors, Android Police can't say when the update might be available or if it will actually coincide with the release of KitKat or the Nexus 5. Either way, we're looking forward to finding out.
