Search giant Google is pulling the curtains on its messaging service Google Talk (Gtalk). According to reports, Gtalk’s features will be integrated into Hangouts in two weeks and the service will go offline from February 16 onwards.
Gtalk had long been replaced with Hangouts on Android, back in 2013. The same happened to the iOS version of Gtalk soon after that. The desktop client for the same though was kept alive till now, with users given the option to switch over to Hangouts if they wanted. This option will be taken away come February 16.
When Google launched Hangouts, it had originally changed users’ chat clients to the new version automatically. This though was returned to the original after somewhat of a mass outrage. Gtalk was known for its simple interface compared to Hangouts.
Further, the news of Gtalk being shut down came to users by way of system messages. The message said, “Google Talk app for Windows will stop working on February 16, 2015. It is replaced by the new Hangouts Chrome app.”
Source: Gizmodo