Google’s naming convention can be a little confusing. Let’s try to tackle Google Meet vs Google Hangouts vs Google Chat.
Google Hangouts Meet, also known as Google Meet (https://meet.google.com) is a teleconferencing tool. It enables screen sharing, audio/video of people who join, as well as it gives people the opportunity to listen via a regular phone by calling in. This tool is a real time, synchronous tool. Google Meet has apps in the Apple App Store as well as the Google Play Store. It is called Hangouts Meet in the App Store.
Please see Google’s support page for Google Meet.
Google Hangouts, also known as Google Classic Hangouts (https://hangouts.google.com) is an instant messaging tool to send messages to your friends who are using a Google account. Hangouts allows for audio calling from device to device, as well as audio/video from device to device. This tool can be used asynchronously or synchronously. Google Hangouts has apps in the Apple App Store as well as the Google Play Store. It is called Hangouts in the App Store. This product is soon to be end-of-life and will be replaced by Google Chat.
Please see Google’s support page for Google Hangouts.
Google Chat (https://chat.google.com) is a full-featured collaboration tool which allows for chatting, sharing documents, creating separating rooms for discussion within a group. If you are familiar with the website, Slack (https://slack.com) – this tool is a direct competitor. Eventually, Google Hangouts will be discontinued, and Google Chat will take over as their messaging application.
Please see Google’s support page for Google Chat.
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