However, it ended up dying quickly after its launch because it was limited on features, only worked on Android and iOS and only one device at a time, and lacked SMS integration entirely. Google even went as far as rebooting Voice a few years ago, further cementing that the dream of an all-in-one messaging app was something Google was just entirely done with. Google is pushing users towards Google Chat instead, and the Messages app for SMS. In 2022, Hangouts technically still works, but it’s dead man walking. This included making Google Messenger (now Messages) the default SMS app on Android, the removal of SMS from the Hangouts app, and the real kicker, the launch of Google Allo.Ģ018 marked the “death” of Hangouts, when Google announced that “classic” Hangouts would be shut down in favor of its enterprise alternatives which were nowhere near ready for consumers. Some of its promises, such as actually killing off Google’s other messaging services and being Android’s default SMS client, weren’t available on day one, but Google quickly improved the situation by pulling the plug on Google+’s Messenger service and bringing SMS support to Hangouts, and Google Voice wasn’t too far behind.īut, by 2016, Google was starting to look at other messaging strategies, for reasons no one really understands to this day. In typical Google fashion, though, Hangouts launched to a rough start. And unlike iMessage, it worked virtually everywhere, with clients on Android, iOS, the web, smartwatches, and more. Truly, its promise was to be Google’s all-in-one messaging solution. Hangouts even replaced the aging Google Talk, which had been popular for years before iMessage’s debut. It had SMS/MMS, it had Google account-based instant messaging over data, and it also had voice and video calls, powered in part by Google Voice. The service, which was an extension of Google+’s messaging services, brought together Android messaging all in one place. Google’s first real attempt to compete with iMessage came in 2013 with the arrival of Google Hangouts. Google has been working on messaging apps for well over a decade, and plenty of those have come since iMessage’s arrival in 2011. Google’s history of messaging apps since the debut of iMessage But still, it remains exclusive to Apple’s hardware products, despite repeated calls for it to expand to other platforms. A year after its debut, the service came to the Mac, and in the time since it has added support for message reactions, apps, Apple Pay, and many, many more features. Over time, though, iMessage has evolved with more features. Another big perk was that it brought messaging to other iOS devices, including the iPad and iPod Touch. If iMessage wasn’t available, whether that meant you didn’t have a stable data connection or were texting someone without iMessage, the app would automatically fall back to SMS/MMS.
The original selling point for iMessage was the ability to send messages without being charged, and higher quality when sending pictures and videos. IMessage came as a solution to that problem, offering messaging over Wi-Fi or data using the same old phone number. Those messages, too, came with charges from your carrier and complicated plans to manage the cost. At the time, SMS and MMS ruled the industry, with trillions of text messages sent every year in the US alone. Google’s countless other messaging appsĪpple launched iMessage in 2011 alongside the debut of iOS 5.Google’s history of messaging apps since the debut of iMessage.
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