The Hangouts to Google Chat pipeline has been a long time coming. Google has been talking about taking Hangouts behind the barn for what seems like an eternity at this point, and they’re starting to gently nudge users to go ahead and switch over.
The results haven’t been great, but you probably already knew that.
Google Chat takes over Hangouts
Users opening up Hangouts today were greeted with a message that they should start using Chat in Gmail instead, since Hangouts will eventually be discontinued. Hangouts is still functional as of today, but the end is coming. This is just a warning.
Users didn’t take that warning very well, and the reviews for Chat on the Play Store just started pummeling the app’s average rating.
The reviews cover all the highlights that you’ve already heard. Hangouts was fine, Chat lacks features, it’s not as user friendly, etc. These people all have a pretty good point, and even if 1-star reviews are a little harsh, there’s some serious truth in the comments that Google is ignoring.
But hey, at least Hangouts does still work, at least for now. You can enjoy the last part of the ride until Google forces you off, or you can join the rest of us in new chat apps so you don’t have to make the switch on Google’s terms.
