Why trust GreenbotHangouts may not be a dead app walking after all.
It sure seemed like the social app’s days were numbered after ’s splashy rollout of lo Duo, its new fancy, AI-driven messaging video chat apps.
But a spokesperson confirmed an earlier report that Hangouts is staying put in the company’s portfolio of mobile desktop apps.
“Hangouts will remain a stalone product,” the spokesperson told .
It’s all tied to the company’s efforts in enterprise. Hangouts is part of the Apps for rk suite, is not about to pull a product out from under business users’ feet. So Hangouts may be around for a while.
Down the road could eventually nudge those users toward lo, or integrate some of lo’s smart replies search capabilities, with an eye toward business productivity.
y this matters: has to keep two sets of users in mind as it tries to refocus its messaging efforts. The consumer push will be with lo Duo, which are cross-platform apps that infuse new messaging strategies with ’s new Digital Assistant. But Hangouts has a key role to play with the company’s enterprise goals, so it may start to look feel more like a productivity tool over time.
