Google opposes closing Hangouts chat application in 2020

Google has indicated that the rumors of the Hangouts application shutting down in 2020 are false. According to lead developer Scott Johnston, it has not yet been determined when the chat service will be discontinued.

That’s what Johnston says in a message on Twitter, in response to a 9To5Google news report stating, based on an undisclosed source, that Google may have decided to close its Hangouts application in 2020. Johnston, who is responsible at Google as the lead developer of the chat service, says that the decision to close Hangouts in 2020 has not yet been made at all, although he does not deny the discontinuation per se.

The message also states that Hangouts users are moving to Hangouts Chat and Meet, the business versions of the chat service. Although Johnston doesn’t say it in so many words, it seems that the consumer version of Hangouts will be shelved and the business versions will remain, as 9To5Google reported.

The discontinuation of Hangouts shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Google already has two chat applications with Allo and Duo. The development of the former was even stopped.