Google is now receiving more backlash for asking users with free Hangouts accounts to be part of the newer Google Chat transition! Over the past couple of days, Google has been migrating its Hangouts free users and asking them to be switched over to Google Chat.
Google Chat 1-Star Ratings
This move is reportedly a part of the search giant's much broader efforts to start to shutter Hangouts for good. However, the transition appears to be not that well received by most of the current Hangouts users.
According to a report by 9to5Google, just a few days after the whole "forced" migration, Google Chat has then been bombarded with massive amounts of negative reviews on Google Play Store. Aside from negative reviews, Google Chat was also met with multiple 1-star ratings.
Google Chat Rating at 2.7
Droid-Life spotted other multiple sorts of complaints that were posted under the app's official listing. A number of them were regarding the lack of features which Hangouts already has. These include features like voice and video calling, multiple image attachment, and other features as well.
According to the story by AndroidCentral, as of the moment, the app's rating has dropped all the way down to 2.7 and most of its reviews turned out negative. A certain user even remarked that the app is actually a "downgrade" of the current Hangouts and is quite surprisingly unrefined for something that the company is actively encouraging its users to use instead.
Lack of Features for Google Chat
Other complaints circle around the app's lack of customization, support for stickers, and even the lack of a dedicated gallery browser with the app still relying on the users' phone's file manager. Other complaints are regarding no Google Voice integration as well as notifications not even working properly.
The transition for free users started just recently when people started to see a banner on their Android noting that Google Hangouts is now being replaced with the company's Google Chat. Located at the bottom of the banner message is a note that says "Learn More." Google Workspace is trying to provide a more optimized experience for users with Google Chat, Gmail, and more features.
Google Hangouts to Google Chat
The "Learn More" button would then reroute users to a support document along with a "Switch to Chat in Gmail" option which would sign users out of Hangouts and open the official Gmail app. The exact same message also shows up on iOS as well as the web when users visit the Google Hangouts website. Vulnerabilities have been spotted on Google Chat as well as Facebook and Signal which hackers could use to spy on users.
The service will reportedly be retired for enterprise customers some time later this year and Google has yet to confirm an end date for Hangouts when it comes to free personal accounts. With this being said, the latest move would also mark the start of depreciating one of the best messaging apps on Android that is free for users. As of the moment, it looks like Google is still falling short of being able to achieve parity when it comes to features of the two services.
Related Article: Google Employees That Opt to Work-From-Home Could Experience 5% Up to 25% Pay Cut
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
