Google Hangouts is now signing out free users on mobile

We've already known for a while that Google is killing off Hangouts. But Google hasn't announced when it would be shuttered. It looks like the company is taking steps to limit access to the app and even on the Google Hangouts website. Google Hangouts users with free personal accounts see a banner stating, "Hangouts is being replaced by Google Chat." Users also see a "Learn more" button that takes them to a support article explaining the switch from Hangouts to Chat, along with a button to "Switch to Chat in Gmail."

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Google brings Smart Reply to Hangouts and Smart Reply to G Suite users

Aside from introducing grammar check to Google Docs, Google also announced a couple of AI-centric features to its G Suite business users. One is that Smart Reply is coming to Hangouts chat. Another is that G Suite users will be getting Smart Compose on Gmail as well. G Suite users should expect these features in the coming weeks. Google has generally fallen a bit behind its competitors in the enterprise space but by introducing these types of unique features, it might entice more users to give its services a try.

Source: Mashable

Calling on Google Hangouts now works on Firefox again

After Firefox dropped support for plugins (aside from Flash), making video and audio calls to work using Google Hangouts wasn’t possible on the browser—until today, that is. Hangouts on Firefox now works thanks to the use of WebRTC. This means the app works on the browser without the use of plugins. One caveat though is it only works for the consumer version of Hangouts at the moment, support for Hangouts Meet is coming at a later date.

Source: Android Police

Google Hangouts gets optimized for iPhone X

Joining the rest of the Google apps on the iOS platform, Google Hangouts just got an update to optimize it for iPhone X. This means Google’s dedicated messaging app will take advantage of the iPhone X’s immersive display and gets rid of the black bars at the top and the bottom. Aside from this, Google didn’t introduce anything new to the app. But if you have the iPhone X and use this messaging app, it might be time to update your app.

Source: MacRumors