- Google is deactivating Talk, their instant-messaging programme that you probably haven’t used since 2007.
- Users were transferred to Google Hangouts in 2017.
- Third-party XMPP clients like Pidgin and Gajim could still access it.
Google will turn off these remaining lifelines on June 16th, just three days from now. Google claims it’s “winding down Google Talk” and won’t support third-party apps in a note on Talk’s help website, citing its 2017 announcement. If you try to sign into GChat after the 16th, you’ll get an error message. If you still want to use Pidgin with Google services, Pidgin suggests installing this Google Chat plugin instead.
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In 2005, Google Talk was launched as a mechanism for users to exchange instant messages straight from their Gmail accounts. It eventually evolved to include phone and video conversations, as well as group discussions. In 2017, Google phased away the service in favour of Hangouts, a messaging service launched in 2014 that Google was promoting at the time.
However, in classic Google form, the company just had to tweak things for customers again, renaming Hangouts Chat to Google Chat in 2020 and then replacing the old Hangouts with Google Chat for Workspace users early this year. For free Google Account users, Hangouts is still available on the web, but they’ll notice warnings that “Hangouts is going away shortly,” along with links to Google Chat.
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People who used Google Talk through third-party apps are encouraged to switch to Google Chat — but don’t get too used to it. It won’t be long until Google alters its message focus with yet another new service or rebrand, if history is any clue.
