<s>
Google	B-Protocol
Hangouts	I-Protocol
was	O
a	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
instant	B-Application
messaging	I-Application
service	O
developed	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
It	O
originally	O
was	O
a	O
feature	O
of	O
Google+	B-Application
,	O
becoming	O
a	O
standalone	O
product	O
in	O
2013	O
,	O
when	O
Google	B-Application
also	O
began	O
integrating	O
features	O
from	O
Google+	B-Application
Messenger	B-Protocol
and	O
Google	B-Application
Talk	I-Application
into	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
then	O
began	O
integrating	O
features	O
of	O
Google	B-Application
Voice	I-Application
,	O
its	O
Internet	B-Application
telephony	I-Application
product	O
,	O
into	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
,	O
stating	O
that	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
was	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
"	O
the	O
future	O
"	O
of	O
Voice	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
began	O
developing	O
two	O
separate	O
enterprise	O
communication	O
products	O
:	O
Google	B-Protocol
Meet	I-Protocol
and	O
Google	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
,	O
as	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
its	O
Google	B-Application
Workspace	I-Application
office	O
suite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
began	O
transitioning	O
Workspace	O
users	O
from	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
to	O
Meet	O
and	O
Chat	B-Application
in	O
June	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subsequently	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
users	O
transitioned	O
from	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
to	O
Meet	O
and	O
Chat	B-Application
during	O
2021	O
and	O
the	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
service	O
discontinued	O
on	O
November	O
1	O
,	O
2022	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Prior	O
to	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
,	O
Google	B-Application
had	O
maintained	O
several	O
similar	O
,	O
but	O
technologically	O
separate	O
messaging	O
services	O
and	O
platforms	O
across	O
its	O
suite	O
of	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
have	O
included	O
the	O
enterprise-oriented	O
Google	B-Application
Talk	I-Application
(	O
based	O
on	O
XMPP	B-Protocol
)	O
,	O
Google+	B-Application
Messenger	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
the	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
feature	O
of	O
Google+	B-Application
,	O
which	O
provided	O
chat	B-Application
,	O
voice	O
,	O
and	O
videoconferencing	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
its	O
increasingly	O
fragmented	O
and	O
non-unified	O
suite	O
of	O
messaging	O
offerings	O
was	O
also	O
facing	O
growing	O
competition	O
from	O
services	O
such	O
as	O
Facebook	B-Protocol
Messenger	I-Protocol
,	O
iMessage	O
,	O
and	O
WhatsApp	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
decision	O
was	O
made	O
to	O
scrap	O
the	O
existing	O
Google	B-Application
Talk	I-Application
system	O
and	O
code	O
a	O
new	O
messaging	O
product	O
through	O
a	O
collaboration	O
with	O
multiple	O
development	O
teams	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
reports	O
that	O
the	O
new	O
service	O
would	O
be	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
Babel	O
"	O
,	O
the	O
service	O
officially	O
launched	O
as	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
during	O
the	B-Application
Google	I-Application
I/O	O
conference	O
on	O
May	O
15	O
,	O
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
February	O
16	O
,	O
2015	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
it	O
would	O
be	O
discontinuing	O
Google	B-Application
Talk	I-Application
and	O
instructed	O
users	O
to	O
migrate	O
to	O
the	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
app	O
on	O
the	O
Chrome	O
browser	O
instead	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2016	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
discouraged	O
using	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
for	O
SMS	O
,	O
recommending	O
to	O
instead	O
use	O
Google	B-Protocol
's	I-Protocol
"	I-Protocol
Messenger	I-Protocol
"	I-Protocol
SMS	I-Protocol
app	I-Protocol
(	O
later	O
renamed	O
to	O
"	O
Messages	O
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2016	O
,	O
at	O
Google	B-Application
I/O	I-Application
2016	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
two	O
new	O
apps	O
:	O
Google	B-Protocol
Allo	I-Protocol
,	O
a	O
messaging	B-Application
app	I-Application
with	O
AI	O
capabilities	O
(	O
AI-powered	O
bots	O
and	O
selfie	O
features	O
)	O
and	O
Google	B-Application
Duo	I-Application
,	O
a	O
video	O
calling	O
app	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
Pixel	O
and	O
Pixel	O
XL	O
smartphones	O
released	O
later	O
that	O
year	O
were	O
the	O
first	O
Google	B-Application
devices	O
shipped	O
with	O
Duo	B-Application
and	O
Allo	B-Protocol
preinstalled	O
instead	O
of	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
has	O
since	O
confirmed	O
that	O
the	O
new	O
apps	O
will	O
not	O
replace	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
;	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
will	O
remain	O
a	O
separate	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2018	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
Allo	B-Protocol
would	O
be	O
discontinued	O
in	O
March	O
2019	O
with	O
some	O
of	O
its	O
features	O
migrated	O
into	O
Google	B-Protocol
Messages	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
August	O
15	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
on	O
Air	O
would	O
be	O
discontinued	O
on	O
September	O
12	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
and	O
would	O
be	O
folded	O
into	O
YouTube	B-General_Concept
Live	O
,	O
but	O
later	O
on	O
September	O
11	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
said	O
the	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
on	O
Air	O
shutdown	O
date	O
would	O
be	O
moved	O
up	O
from	O
"	O
September	O
12	O
,	O
2016	O
"	O
to	O
"	O
August	O
1	O
,	O
2019	O
"	O
,	O
to	O
free	O
all	O
some	O
livestreams	O
on	O
YouTube	B-General_Concept
.	I-General_Concept
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
6	O
,	O
2017	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
the	B-Application
Google	I-Application
Hangouts	B-Protocol
API	O
would	O
shut	O
down	O
on	O
April	O
25	O
,	O
2017	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
9	O
,	O
2017	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
would	O
be	O
targeted	O
at	O
business	O
users	O
with	O
the	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
brand	O
divided	O
into	O
two	O
products	O
:	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
Meet	I-Protocol
(	O
now	O
Google	B-Protocol
Meet	I-Protocol
)	O
and	O
Hangouts	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
(	O
now	O
Google	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meet	O
would	O
focus	O
on	O
video	O
conferences	O
and	O
Chat	B-Application
would	O
be	O
focused	O
on	O
instant	B-Application
messaging	I-Application
with	O
additional	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
bot	O
assistant	O
and	O
threaded	O
messaging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
features	O
would	O
be	O
targeted	O
at	O
business	B-Application
customers	I-Application
while	O
consumer	O
versions	O
would	O
use	O
a	O
freemium	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
stated	O
in	O
December	O
2018	O
that	O
"	O
classic	O
"	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
would	O
be	O
disabled	O
by	O
October	O
2019	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2018	O
,	O
the	O
desktop	O
Chrome	O
app	O
version	O
of	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
started	O
displaying	O
these	O
banner	O
messages	O
at	O
the	O
top	O
of	O
its	O
window	O
:	O
"	O
The	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
Chrome	O
app	O
will	O
be	O
replaced	O
by	O
the	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
Chrome	O
extension	O
soon.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
has	O
generated	O
many	O
negative	O
user	O
reviews	O
on	O
the	O
Chrome	B-Application
Web	I-Application
Store	I-Application
pages	O
for	O
both	O
the	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
extension	O
and	O
the	O
app	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2019	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
the	O
G	B-Application
Suite	I-Application
version	O
of	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
would	O
be	O
replaced	O
by	O
"	O
Meet	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
Chat	B-Application
,	O
"	O
and	O
push	O
the	O
shut	O
down	O
to	O
June	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2020	O
,	O
in	O
response	O
to	O
COVID-19	O
,	O
Google	B-Protocol
Meet	I-Protocol
became	O
free	O
for	O
all	O
users	O
,	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
in	O
April	O
2020	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
will	O
remain	O
a	O
consumer-level	O
product	O
for	O
people	O
using	O
standard	O
Google	B-Application
accounts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
2020	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
Chat	B-Application
would	O
also	O
be	O
made	O
free	O
to	O
everyone	O
and	O
replace	O
"	O
classic	O
"	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
by	O
2021	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2021	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
indeed	O
became	O
free	O
as	O
an	O
"	O
Early	O
Access	O
"	O
service	O
,	O
for	O
users	O
who	O
choose	O
to	O
use	O
it	O
instead	O
of	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
June	O
27	O
,	O
2022	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
officially	O
announced	O
they	O
would	O
be	O
shutting	O
down	O
Google	B-Protocol
Hangouts	I-Protocol
in	O
November	O
1	O
,	O
2022	O
and	O
migrating	O
all	O
users	O
to	O
Google	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hangouts	B-Protocol
allowed	O
conversations	O
between	O
two	O
or	O
more	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
service	O
could	O
be	O
accessed	O
online	O
through	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
or	O
Google+	B-Application
websites	O
,	O
or	O
through	O
mobile	B-Application
apps	I-Application
available	O
for	O
Android	B-Application
and	O
iOS	B-Application
(	O
which	O
were	O
distributed	O
as	O
a	O
successor	O
to	O
their	O
existing	O
Google	B-Application
Talk	I-Application
apps	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
because	O
it	O
used	O
a	O
proprietary	O
protocol	O
instead	O
of	O
the	O
XMPP	B-Protocol
open	O
standard	O
protocol	O
used	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
Talk	I-Application
,	O
most	O
third-party	O
applications	O
which	O
had	O
access	O
to	O
Google	B-Application
Talk	I-Application
did	O
not	O
have	O
access	O
to	O
Google+	B-Application
Hangouts	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chat	B-Application
histories	O
were	O
saved	O
online	O
which	O
allowed	O
them	O
to	O
be	O
synced	O
between	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
"	O
watermark	O
"	O
of	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
avatar	B-Application
was	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
marker	O
to	O
indicate	O
how	O
far	O
they	O
have	O
read	O
into	O
the	O
conversation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Photos	O
could	O
be	O
shared	O
during	O
conversations	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
automatically	O
uploaded	O
into	O
a	O
private	O
Google+	B-Application
album	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
could	O
also	O
use	O
color	O
emoji	B-Application
symbols	O
in	O
their	O
messages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
the	O
previous	O
Google+	B-Application
Hangouts	I-Application
,	O
users	O
could	O
also	O
perform	O
a	O
group	O
video	O
chat	B-Application
with	O
up	O
to	O
10	O
users	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2016	O
Google	B-Application
upgraded	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
to	O
25	O
concurrent	O
users	O
in	O
HD	O
video	O
for	O
Work/Education	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
Google	B-Protocol
Hangouts	I-Protocol
app	O
on	O
iOS	B-Application
integrated	O
a	O
Google	B-Application
Voice	I-Application
number	O
to	O
some	O
extent	O
,	O
but	O
on	O
Android	B-Application
the	O
SMS	O
supported	O
in	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
did	O
n’t	O
fully	O
integrate	O
with	O
Google	B-Application
Voice	I-Application
for	O
calls	O
or	O
texts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
reason	O
for	O
the	O
delay	O
appears	O
tied	O
to	O
Google	B-Application
switching	O
away	O
from	O
the	O
XMPP	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
it	O
used	O
,	O
as	O
mentioned	O
above	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	O
,	O
users	O
did	O
not	O
need	O
to	O
install	O
a	O
plugin	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
for	O
Internet	O
Explorer	O
11	O
,	O
the	O
user	O
had	O
to	O
install	O
the	O
"	O
Google	B-Application
Talk	I-Application
Plugin	O
"	O
to	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
video	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Android	B-Application
4.4	I-Application
,	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
was	O
integrated	O
with	O
text	O
messages	O
sending	O
and	O
receiving	O
functions	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
default	O
SMS	O
app	O
on	O
the	O
Nexus	B-Device
5	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
other	O
Android	B-Application
phones	I-Application
,	O
users	O
could	O
choose	O
to	O
open	O
the	O
SMS	O
function	O
when	O
they	O
download	O
the	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
via	O
Google	B-Application
Play	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hangouts	B-Protocol
included	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
make	O
free	O
voice	O
calls	O
to	O
other	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
users	O
,	O
and	O
charged	O
users	O
(	O
via	O
pre-registered	O
credit	O
)	O
to	O
call	O
landline	O
and	O
mobile	O
phones	O
internationally	O
except	O
for	O
calls	O
to	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
and	O
Canada	O
which	O
were	O
free	O
of	O
charge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
,	O
Android	B-Application
users	O
had	O
to	O
have	O
both	O
the	B-Application
Google	I-Application
Hangouts	B-Protocol
and	O
Hangouts	B-Protocol
Dialer	O
apps	O
installed	O
if	O
they	O
wish	O
to	O
call	O
landline	O
or	O
mobile	O
telephone	O
numbers	O
via	O
the	O
public	O
switched	O
telephone	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
will	O
have	O
to	O
use	O
YouTube	B-General_Concept
Live	O
for	O
live-streaming	O
events	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
May	O
2013	O
,	O
Google	B-Protocol
Hangouts	I-Protocol
faced	O
criticism	O
from	O
the	O
Electronic	O
Frontier	O
Foundation	O
as	O
they	O
felt	O
that	O
Google	B-Application
was	O
"	O
moving	O
in	O
the	O
wrong	O
direction	O
"	O
by	O
shrinking	O
its	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
open	O
standard	O
protocol	O
XMPP	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
protocol	O
makes	O
it	O
much	O
more	O
difficult	O
for	O
multi-chat	O
clients	O
like	O
Pidgin	B-Protocol
and	O
Adium	B-Protocol
to	O
support	O
Google	B-Protocol
Hangouts	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
the	O
tight	O
integration	O
of	O
Google	B-Protocol
Hangouts	I-Protocol
and	O
Google+	B-Application
can	O
lead	O
to	O
the	O
unwilling	O
sharing	O
of	O
personal	O
information	O
with	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
November	O
30	O
,	O
2014	O
,	O
Make	O
Use	O
Of	O
hailed	O
Google	B-Protocol
Hangouts	I-Protocol
as	O
the	O
"	O
best	O
messaging	B-Application
app	I-Application
on	O
Android	B-Application
by	O
far	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
Google	B-Protocol
Hangouts	I-Protocol
has	O
a	O
score	O
of	O
2	O
out	O
of	O
7	O
points	O
on	O
the	O
Electronic	O
Frontier	O
Foundation	O
's	O
Secure	O
Messaging	O
Scorecard	O
.	O
</s>
