Google Chat app now wants to be the next WhatsApp

To put it mildly, Google’s messaging initiatives have been incredibly muddled and disorganized. Google promoted Chat as the new platform for workplace collaboration after shuttering Hangouts. Now, the business appears committed to transforming Google Chat into a tool for messaging loved ones like WhatsApp.

Just keep in mind that “Google Chat” should not be confused with the “Chat Messages” name that Google applied to RCS in the Android Messages app. After discontinuing Hangouts, Google shifted to the former, a separate app and web interface.

However, the company has revealed a ton of brand-new capabilities for the Google Chat application. Editing and deleting messages, checking read receipts and quotes in group chats, hiding inactive conversations, using Smart Compose to create messages, linking to text, and other features are among them.

Most of these capabilities can appear extremely basic at first sight; after all, numerous messaging services like WhatsApp, Telegram, and others have long integrated them. What’s intriguing about this, though, is that Google is aiming to enter the family and friend texting game with yet another app; up until now, this app has been marketed as a tool for teamwork in the workplace. In fact, the Google Chat app is still advertised online and in app stores as a “team communication” tool.

It’s unclear what the Google Chat app is trying to be, as it is with everything Google does in messaging. Now, the business wants users to use it for “planning softball practices, coming up with ideas for trips with friends, and sharing a funny video with family members.” Given that people already utilize more established options, we don’t think Google will be able to convince them to use Chat for all these activities.