Google Hangouts shutting doors on apps by April

 

messaging platform strategy has never really been stable. Over the years it has switched from one system and app to the next, practically promising “this” would be it. Substitute “this” with Voice, Messages, Hangouts, and now Allo and Duo, and you pretty much get the picture. Unfortunately for those who actually invested in, for example, Hangouts, they might soon find their investments rendered useless as Google shuts down Hangouts’ API that third-party app developers once used to hook into the service.

Hangouts was supposed to be the be all and end all of Google’s messaging platform, a single coherent brand both users and developers could rally behind. Although initially a part of the now obsolete Google+, Hangouts quickly group from group video chat to all-around phone, text, one-on-one video call, and video conferencing service. It even became the umbrella name for a stillborn Helpouts video chat assistance service.

Today, however, Google has Allo for text-based chats and Duo for one-on-one video chats. Hangouts, in their new vision, will be relegated to business use cases, particularly video conferencing. And to “streamline” that transition, Google has silently given its Hangouts API a death sentence. On 25th April, the API will shutdown and apps in Hangouts will cease to function.

These apps have mostly been used to add a more social, less serious flavor to Hangouts, from stickers to doodles, and even AR overlays. As such, they no longer have a place in Hangouts’ new business-minded world. Some third-party apps, however, did use those APIs exactly for what Google now intends Hangouts to be, so integrations with services and apps like DialPad, RingCentral, Slack, Control Room, and the like, will continue to function. At least until further notice.

The big question now is how long before that situation changes again, if not for Hangouts then for Google’s current messaging strategy. And Google has practically made Hangouts, to put it bluntly, boring, which would probably discourage new users and further investment, driving users towards rivals like Slack or Skype.