Starting immediately, remaining Google Hangouts users will be urged to switch to Google’s successive messaging app, Google Chat, the company said in a blog post. Key competitor Zoom saw its own surge of users at the onset of the pandemic, with a jump of more than 100 million users between March and April. Once an office darling, Google’s cross-platform messaging service is set for retirement it will shut down for good in November 2022. In April, Google told CNET that its Meet videoconferencing software was adding 2 million users a day after logging 2 billion minutes of video calls during March. The changes come during a time in which videoconferencing services are booming due to continued efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Since then, people could continue using Hangouts or upgrade to Google Chat available as its own app or within Gmail to take advantage of its modern features and integration with other Workspace products. In October, we'll start showing affected users an in-product notification with guidance on how to receive refunds on their remaining calling credits, and early next year, we'll remove the feature entirely." In October 2020, we announced Google Chat would be available for everyone. "To comply with these new regulations, we need to remove the call phones feature in Hangouts. "New telecommunications regulations are being introduced in the EU and US beginning in 2021," Google said. Users, adding that it won't be long before you aren't able to make phone calls from the Hangouts app at all. Google said that a similar transition to the Voice app is in store for
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