tl;dr: after pushing rcs so hard for years, killing hangouts well after forgetting about it, & hiding it from gmail, google now wants you to use its (and google allo's) successor, google chat.
I always used to use Hangouts as my default chat app for friends. We had a big DnD group chat on it. But we migrated to WhatsApp when Google said they were going to kill hangouts and never looked back.
Why would I trust Google with my chats when they constantly abandon/kill off their best tools. We've now moved to Signal and I'm expecting to stay there for a long time.
I stopped using Hangouts when that happened too... Then I realized that Google Chat was almost identical, so I just started using that instead. Didn't have to migrate data or anything 🤷♂️
Yeah me and all my friends loved hangouts and I was sad when they killed the app and the entire service later on. Google can gargle my nuts with how many times they have swept the rug from underneath me
Have you tried Telegram? I've slowly been moving over to it more and more with my contacts, and I find it's a much nicer experience than WA. Especially with handling files and attachments, which I could see being useful in D&D.
I've seen a lot of buzz about XMPP lately (well, mostly in relation to P92 and corps killing FOSS projects). Beyond it being a comm protocol, I don't really know much about it. Is it still in use?
Talking of signal, I was pretty gutted when they removed sms support. I get their reasoning that sms isn't secure, but having a single app where you could use secure messaging for some people and default SMS with others was top notch. Sad that it's gone now
Seriously. I'm quite a Google maximalist (yea, I know, spare me) and a young-ish not-that-old IT nerd. But even I have lost track of which chat app is currently the supported one / the successor of all the dead ones, and how to get is / use it. If I'm confused, I can't imagine how it is for the average internet user or old people.
Absolutely. What I'm looking for is actually an Alternative to Skype on the Desktop, that is simple enough to use for my mother. Discord is too overloaded for her. Hangouts would have worked. Maybe Google Chat could fill the gap, I don't even know what it can and can't, despite relying Google products heavily. I literally gave up trying to follow their chat efforts years ago.
It’s really hard to fathom how Google’s decision makers don’t understand that in addition to being confusing, their failure to settle on one messaging app makes them look stupid and flaky in the eyes of average users. This isn’t some niche app for specialists that Google can get away with killing because the user base is relatively small. The general public uses instant messaging all day every day, and after having Google pull the football away two or three times, they’re just going to decide to use something that’s going to stick around instead.
Precisely my feel about Google Chat. I'm not migrating just to have the rug pulled a third time, I'm going with less flaky. Instant Messaging is a commodity, not some bleeding edge feature.
I always used to use allo and hangouts when I was a flight attendant as they would still send messages despite the airlines paywall for the internet on their wifi. no idea how it worked but was awesome little gimmic
Thats gonna be a no from me... I utilized Hangouts heavily for chat and SMS, then they killed it for no fucking reason. Never again putting trust in a google app, because they sunset at random times without any good reason.
Best thing I ever did was use Beeper and link my google chat account. Now I don't have to use their dumb interface but I can keep in touch with my friends.
Google’s promotion-pack culture strikes again. You don’t get promoted at Google for “maintaining a successful product and keeping people happy.” You do get promoted for launching a new product, even if it competes with another well-liked Google product.
So if you want to be successful at Google, you launch a new chat service.
Damn that is such a stupid way of doing things too. Eventually user goodwill depletes and you’re left with a significant investment in products that don’t even generate profit or good.
This trend is bad for the Google brand, and I'm surprised that the higher ups there don't understand it. Why should I use a Google service and get attached to it if they are going to unexpectedly remove it entirely?
How long until Google Earth gets the axe? Or even Gmail? I'm writing this on my Google Pixel, but they could theoretically just say "naw we wanna leave the phone market" and then may not make the phone any longer or not provide OS or security updates if that is their prerogative.
For such a large tech company, they have the resources to run these services at cost in order to have their users be more valuable to them in the long term.
I'm still bitter about them completely dismantling the original Google Talk desktop application two decades ago (yes they weren't shortened to app then lol) as it was the best communication platform of its time and had very clear voice comms.
I have a hard time trying new google stuff because it seems they kill it a few years later. Google used to be amazing, now I’m highly skeptical of the company. I’ve even switched to using Bing because google searches just result in a bunch of AI shit and other SEO bullshit.
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