As reported earlier, Google Hangouts is officially shutting down today. Although Hangouts Web is available at the time of writing, it will be deactivated later today and replaced by Chats on web.
Google began leading Hangouts to its eventual closure in 2020 when it stripped the platform of Google Voice features, Fi support, and more. The company then made an additional announcement in June, followed by a final disclaimer in September that shared the nitty-gritty of transferring data across the platforms and other updates.
Google stated that it would shut down the Hangouts web app from November 1, 2022. According to the company, it is to provide a better and integrated messaging experience across Google Workspace. Google Chat will now be the default application as the Hangouts app, browser extensions, and other links will be redirected to Google Chat.
While Hangouts will be disabled, users can still export their complete data history to Google Chat till January 1, 2023, via Google Takeout.