Google Reportedly Removing Hangouts SMS Feature

With Google launching Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat that are clearly aimed more at enterprise users, for a brief moment there were some who were probably worried that the consumer version of Hangouts would be killed, although this is something that Google has since reassured will not happen.

However the company is making some changes to Hangouts that appears to be trying to make the app more streamlined, and that is by possibly removing the SMS feature. This is according to an email that a Redditor got from Google in which Google informed them that SMS on Hangouts will soon be removed, and that users will soon get a message informing them to seek an alternative app.

The email reads (in part), “Users will be prompted to choose another default messaging app already installed on their phone. If none exists, they will be directed to the Google Play store to find a new SMS messaging app. Choosing a new messaging app will not impact existing SMS messages. All messages will be accessible in the new messaging app. For SMS users using Google Voice on Hangouts on Android Google Voice users who also send carrier SMS messages will need to choose another default messaging app.”

There are already some Google-made alternatives available, such as Google Allo and Android Messages, but we guess for those who have gotten accustomed to Hangouts, we guess it’s time to start getting used to another app for your SMS needs.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Apps, Google, hangouts