A few months ago, Google confirmed that the wait transition from classic Hangouts to the new Google Chat It would take place in the first half of this year 2021, and it seems that this migration has already begun to take place.
As leaked earlier this month, Google Chat was preparing the launch of a Beta version for consumers, a preview that already has started to reach some users.
Google Chat ‘Consumer Beta’
There are several users who have reported that they can already use Google Chat through their user account, showing the messaging application the contacts, conversations and groups they had in Hangouts.
A welcome window informs users that Google Chat introduces a ** new experience and features that were not available in Hangouts **, also informing that it is a preview, which could present errors.
My Google Chat is now showing this Hangouts “Preview” message.
It looks like all my individual contacts work and are accessible via the search bar.
The only missing feature now is group chat. pic.twitter.com/Vf8mLahrbE
— Ron Amadeo (@RonAmadeo) February 24, 2021
So far, Google Chat is only available for accounts Google Workspace (formerly G Suite). Consumer accounts could only use Google Chat if they received an invitation to join a conversation already created by a Workspace account.
At the moment it seems that the launch of Google Chat Beta it has been very limited. It has been activated in very few accounts, so we will have to wait to see if over the next few weeks Google begins to activate this preview to any user who wants to test before the official launch at successor to Hangouts. The final version should be ready in June at the latest.
Via | 9to5Google