Soon enough, Gmail will look totally different than what you know. Starting with June 26, Gchat will completely change its appearance, and it will be replaced by Google Hangouts, according to a report by Select All. Gchat was released initially in 2015, and it’s hard to remember what was it like to send an instant message to a friend with Gmail while you still tried to pretend you were productive.
Is Hangouts the future?
Reportedly, Google has been insisting on Hangouts, a service that was released in 2013 and which apparently will replace Gchat. Up until now, you still had the option of remaining with Gchat if you wished. But there’s more sad news coming your way: the Google Talk Android app is going to become unavailable too, just like any other apps that relied on Talk.
So what changes?
Well, the good news is that not many things will change in the way you will interact with the platform, and this is happening mainly because Hangouts works in kind of the same way as Gchat. The only difference is that it has another name and a slightly changed interface.
What happens if I don’t want to switch?
In this case, Google offers you seven different messaging alternatives which you can use. Some of them are quite popular, as is the case with Allo, Duo, Hangouts, Android Messages or Voice. However, there is still a sense of nostalgia when you see Google Talk go away, since it was a major breakthrough in the beginning of the 2000s, and many people used it back then. Moreover, people have been asking themselves why would the giant tech company choose to switch people to Hangouts instead of Allo, but for now we have no answer. Besides, they will cut off SMS support from Hangouts.
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