Google Hangouts streamlined further for the enterprise
Google on Friday announced further updates to Hangouts that are geared for an enterprise audience. After gradually replacing Google Talk with Hangouts, Google is officially getting rid of Talk. Additionally, the company is removing SMS from Hangouts.
Earlier this month, Google announced that it's splitting Hangouts into two distinct products: Meet takes on Hangouts' video-conferencing features, while Chats is a dedicated messaging app for teams.
"We've been working hard to streamline the classic Hangouts product for enterprise users," Google reiterated in a blog post Friday.
Carrier SMS functionality will be removed from the classic Hangouts app for Android on May 22. The change doesn't impact Google Voice users who use Hangouts for their Google Voice SMS, or Project Fi users who wish to use Hangouts as their SMS app.
In lieu of Hangouts, Google is pointing users to Android Messages for SMS. They're also working with carriers and device manufacturers to include Android Messages natively in Android devices. Over the longer term, they're working with partners to upgrade SMS to RCS.
Meanwhile, Google will finally say goodbye to Google Talk on June 26, when users will automatically be transitioned to Hangouts. The legacy Google Talk Android app, which was replaced in the Play Store in 2013, will also stop functioning.