Google Chat appears to be rolling out a preview of support for Hangouts to some lucky users. Google previously announced that Hangouts users would be migrated to a free version of Google Chat, which is essentially a competitor to Slack, in the first half of 2021.
Are Technica’s Ron Amadeo was among the first to spot a Hangouts “Preview” message when opening Google Chat. We received the same prompt in the Chat app. Google said it will automatically migrate Hangouts conversations during the transition, along with contacts and saved history.
My Google Chat is now showing this Hangouts "Preview" message.
It looks like all my individual contacts work and are accessible via the search bar.
The only missing feature now is group chat. pic.twitter.com/Vf8mLahrbE
— Ron Amadeo (@RonAmadeo) February 24, 2021
There is one big issue with this “Preview,” and it’s that group chats from Hangouts still haven’t been migrated. You can, however, create a “Room” in Chat and invite everyone over. Even better, the Room you create also shows up as a group chat in Hangouts.
Amadeo notes that there also doesn’t seem to be a way to do a 1-on-1 video call. “Google Chat always wants to paste a URL for a corporate ‘video meeting’ into the chat,” Amadeo said. In Hangouts, starting a video call with someone made the recipient’s phone ring.
The Google Chat preview for Hangouts doesn’t appear to be available for all free users just yet, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t see the prompt. Remember, Google previously said the transition would officially happen in the first half of 2021, so there’s still time for a wider rollout to occur.
Once Hangouts users are migrated over to Chat, they’ll be able to access faster search, use emoji reactions, and also share and collaborate on files. The free version of Google Chat will still include extra phishing protections as part of Google’s Safe Browsing initiative.
Speaking of Hangouts, Google recently said that starting March of 2021, Fi users won’t be able to use Hangouts to send or receive text messages, or make or receive voice calls and voicemail.
Google Chat (Free, Google Play) →
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