computer science

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Google Hangouts rather than just read about it. In short: Google Hangouts was a cross-platform instant messaging (IM) service developed by Google. It originally was a feature of Google+ in 2011, becoming a standalone product in 2013, when Google also began integrating features from Google+ Messenger and Google Talk into Hangouts.

Key takeaways

Google Hangouts belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Google Hangouts to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Google Hangouts from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Google Hangouts was a cross-platform instant messaging (IM) service developed by Google. It originally was a feature of Google+ in 2011, becoming a standalone product in 2013, when Google also began integrating features from Google+ Messenger and Google Talk into Hangouts. Google then began integrating features of Google Voice, its Internet telephony product, into Hangouts, stating that Hangouts was designed to be "the future" of Voice. In 2017, Google began developing two separate enterprise communication products: Google Meet and Google Chat, as a part of its Google Workspace office suite. Google began transitioning Workspace users from Hangouts to Meet and Chat in June 2020. Subsequently, Gmail users transitioned from Hangouts to Meet and Chat during 2021, and Hangouts was discontinued on November 1, 2022.

History Prior to the launch of Hangouts, Google had maintained several similar, but technologically separate messaging services and platforms across its suite of products. These have included the enterprise-oriented Google Talk (based on XMPP), Google+ Messenger, and the Hangouts feature of Google+, which provided chat, voice, and videoconferencing features. However, its increasingly fragmented and non-unified suite of messaging offerings was also facing growing competition from services such as Facebook Messenger, iMessage, and WhatsApp. A decision was made to scrap the existing Google Talk system and code a new messaging product through a collaboration with multiple development teams. Following reports that the new service would be known as "Babel", the service officially launched as Hangouts during the Google I/O conference on May 15, 2013. On February 16, 2015, Google announced it would be discontinuing Google Talk and instructed users to migrate to the Hangouts app on the Chrome browser instead. In January 2016, Google discouraged using Hangouts for SMS, recommending to instead use Google's "Messenger" SMS app (later renamed to "Messages"). In May 2016, at Google I/O 2016, Google announced two new apps: Google Allo, a messaging app with AI capabilities (AI-powered bots and selfie features) and Google Duo, a video calling app. Google's Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones released later that year were the first Google devices shipped with Duo and Allo preinstalled instead of Hangouts. Google has since confirmed that the new apps will not replace Hangouts; Hangouts will remain a separate product. In December 2018 Google announced Allo would be discontinued in March 2019 with some of its features migrated into Google Messages. On August 15, 2016, Google announced that Hangouts on Air would be folded into YouTube Live on September 12, 2016. Some users during the date have switched to other livestream programs. Later, Hangouts on Air was discontinued on August 1, 2019. On January 6, 2017, Google announced that the Google Hangouts API would shut down on April 25, 2017. On March 9, 2017, Google announced that Hangouts would be targeted at business users with the Hangouts brand divided into two products: Hangouts Meet (now Google Meet) and Hangouts Chat (now Google Chat). Meet would focus on video conferences and Chat would be focused on instant messaging with additional features such as bot assistant and threaded messaging. The features would be targeted at business customers while consumer versions would use a freemium model. Google stated in December 2018 that "classic" Hangouts would be disabled by October 2019. In November 2018, the desktop Chrome app version of Hangouts started displaying these banner messages at the top of its window: "The Hangouts Chrome app will be replaced by the Hangouts Chrome extension soon." This has generated many negative user reviews on the Chrome Web Store pages for both the Hangouts extension and the app. In August 2019, Google announced that the G Suite version of Hangouts would be replaced by "Meet" and "Chat," and push the shut down to June 2020. In April 2020, in response to COVID-19, Google Meet became free for all users. Also in April 2020, Google announced Hangouts will remain a consumer-level product for people using standard Google accounts. In October 2020, Google announced that Chat would also be made free to everyone and replace "classic" Hangouts by 2021. In April 2021, Google Chat indeed became free as an "Early Access" service, for users who choose to use it instead of Hangouts. On June 27, 2022, Google officially announced they would be shutting down Google Hangouts on November 1, 2022 and migrating all users to Google Chat.

Features

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Google Hangouts

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Google Hangouts claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Google Hangouts before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Google Hangouts ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Google Hangouts

In research: Google Hangouts appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Google Hangouts in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Google Hangouts is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2013 software, Android (operating system) software, Cross-platform software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Google Hangouts outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Google Hangouts in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Google Hangouts means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Google Hangouts out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Google Hangouts in simple terms?

Why does Google Hangouts matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Google Hangouts?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Google Hangouts.