Google plans to remove SMS support from Hangouts on May 22
Google is continuing to make changes to its
Hangouts app and service. Late on Thursday, the company sent an email to its G
Suite administrators, informing them that SMS text messaging support for the
Hangouts chat app will be removed on May 22.
The email, as posted by Droid Life, added
that Hangouts users will see an in-app message, like the one shown above,
starting on March 27 informing them of the planned removal of SMS services.
That message will direct users to pick another default messaging app for their
SMS texts. If, for some reason, they don’t have one already installed on their
phone, those users will be asked to go to the Google Play Store to download an
SMS app. This change will not affect Google Voice numbers, which will continue
to be supported in Hangouts.
This news comes as Google continues to evolve
its Hangouts service to serve businesses and enterprise customers. Earlier this
month, the company revealed its new Hangouts Meet video chat app, and is also
currently testing Hangouts Chat, a text-based service designed as a competitor
to Slack. Google has since insisted that its current Hangouts client is “not
going anywhere”. However, the removal of one of its main features would seem to
indicate that the company is continuing to make changes to the default Hangouts
app while it also launches new text and video clients.
Source: androidauth
Via: Droid Life
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