Google Chat running for Gmail accounts. What is the replacement for Hangouts?

Google Chat will soon completely replace the classic Google Hangouts Communicator. For several years, the service was only available for paid Workspace corporate accounts (formerly G Suite). Now Google Chat is finally available to all users with a regular Gmail account. What is Google Chat and how to run it?

Google Chat has long been targeted primarily as a competitor to the popular corporate communicator Slack. But Google has long promised that the service will gradually replace the old Hangouts communicator. Until now, users paid for company accounts Google Workspace could invite someone with an unpaid Gmail account to chat. From now on, anyone with a Gmail account can try Google Chat at chat.google.com. If the service doesn’t happen to be available for your account yet, you can try this direct link.

We have already managed to launch Google Chat for a Gmail account in the mobile application, which is available for both Android and Apple iOS. However, it is possible that Google has not yet enabled this option on all accounts. Along with making Chat available to regular users, the app brought some familiar features from classic Hangouts. Chat has recently gained the ability to have multiple communication windows open at the bottom of the screen, exactly as we know it from Hangouts.

What do you say to Google Chat as a replacement for Hangouts?

Source: 9to5google