Google started moving Workspace users to Chats and Spaces last week. The company is yet to announce the exact timeline for Hangouts being disabled for personal/free accounts.
The Hangouts app still works for those who have it installed on their devices.
Google Chats is replacing the old Hangouts for Workspace customers. As part of the move, Google has now said that it will disable the old Hangouts mobile apps, and it appears that the app has now been removed from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for new users. The app no longer appears in search results, but it is available for those who already had the app installed on their smartphones.
According to a report in 9to5Google, searching for the Hangouts app in the App Store no longer brings up the app listing and the direct link has also been disabled. This comes after Google said that it will start making Chat the default application for Workspace customers that haven’t already migrated. The Hangouts app still works for those who have it installed on their devices. It does, however, show a “Move to Google Chat in Gmail” alert every time you open the app.
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For older users, the Android app is still available on the Google Play Store but for new users, the listing does not show on the app market. The iPhone and iPad app being taken down is a new development and is a significant step towards Google shutting down Hangouts for good.
Google started moving Workspace users to Chats and Spaces last week. The company is yet to announce the exact timeline for Hangouts being disabled for personal/free accounts.
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Google recently announced that it has removed over a million fake Google Maps profiles in the past year, using its expertise in machine learning, which has helped in identifying scammers and fraud profiles listed on the platform.
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