Summary
- Social media apps are evolving towards large-scale group interactions, with WhatsApp notably shifting focus to Communities.
- Google’s Chat app, formerly called Hangouts, is also entering the competition with features like Spaces for group chats and the upcoming Announcements option for broadcasting updates.
- While Chats doesn’t support broadcast messaging yet, it could be a game-changer for businesses looking for a Slack alternative within Google Workspace.
Social media apps have evolved in the last decade — Instagram shed its photos-first appeal to become one of the biggest hubs for short video Reels, Facebook learnt many new tricks, and passed bits like stories on to every other popular Meta app, WhatsApp included. Although the chat-focused platform has relentlessly chased after Telegram’s superior feature set, WhatsApp has also shifted focus from one-to-one and small group messaging towards large-scale interactions with Communities and Channels. Now, it appears Google is swooping in on the opportunity with Chats, formerly known as Hangouts.
What is WhatsApp Communities and how do I use it?
Organize all your WhatsApp Groups in one place with Communities
Hangouts was the Google Workspace equivalent of WhatsApp, allowing users to message each-other individually, or engage in group banter. It was later rebranded to Chats, and remains accessible though its standalone app or a tab in the Gmail app for Android. While WhatsApp is chasing after Telegram and Discord’s concept of servers with a relatively new feature called Communities, Chats has an equivalent called Spaces, where you can engage in group chats.
However, unlike other popular messaging apps, Chats doesn’t support broadcast messaging. WhatsApp recently introduced Channels to introduce the concept, but it appears Google isn’t too far behind. The company’s only social media app that bore a semblance to Communities would be Google+, but Chats could fill in those shoes.
Announcements feature spotted in development for Chats
Popular Google app feature spotter AssembleDebug on X (formerly Twitter) recently shared an update showing a new option when setting up a new space in Google Chat. Usually, you just hit the floating action button, select Create a Space, name it, add participants, and you’re good to go. However, AssembleDebug’s screenshot shows a rather unfinished UI with options to set up the space for Collaboration or Announcements, just after naming it.
Although the details are scarce, the feature descriptions explain the Collaboration option is ideal for “sharing files, assigning tasks, and organizing conversations by threads.” Meanwhile, the Announcements option would probably limit who can send messages, and how other participants can interact with them. The feature’s description simply reads — “Broadcast and share updates with your group.”
Google Chat may not be popular, but this could be just what Workspace needs, helping businesses dependent on external tools like Slack. We just need more specifics before we decide if Google is just hopping on the bandwagon or sincerely developing a well-rounded feature here.
