In October 2020, Google announced that it will launch a platform called google chat that would be available for everyone.
Since then, people could continually use google hangouts or upgrade to Google chat, by downloading the app separately or using it within Gmail.
Today, Google has said that it is launching Google Chat which will have a better user interface and be an upgrade of its Hangouts platform.
Users, however, have the option to switch between the Hangouts and Google Chat until July this year.
Google said it will roll out a prompt before it starts pointing the Hangouts site to Chat.
If you are using Hangouts, Google should automatically transfer your chat to Google Chat.
The company also plans to introduce other features like Chat spaces, a dedicated place for topic based collaboration.
Groups and teams can share ideas, work on documents, and manage files and tasks, all from a single location.
The new integrated view in Gmail will make it easier to use Chat alongside your Gmail inbox, Spaces, and Meet.