Google removes SMS integration from its Hangouts messaging platform

In an email send to G Suite administrators, Google announced the elimination of Hangouts’ SMS integration.

Over the past year, Google has gradually asked SMS users to switch to Messages, removed merged conversations, and launched a separate Google Voice app. Furthermore, Google has also been trying to move people off Hangouts by introducing new messaging apps in Allo and Duo.

Google notes that a warning will appear above the Hangouts interface beginning on March 27th, and the integration will officially terminate on May 22nd. Google has confirmed that Voice users or Project Fi users will not be affected by this change.

It’s been reported that Google is trying to turn Hangouts into an enterprise messaging competitor for the Canadian success story, Slack. Google recently pledged its commitment to the Hangouts platform and even went so far as to splitting the service into two separate offerings. 

Source: Android Authority