Description
Google Chat is a video messaging tool developed that allows users to collaborate at a distance, instant message, video chat, and share photos, computer screens, and files. You can message a person or group in Google Chat the same way that you do in classic Hangouts, but with enhanced features. Google Chat is available in Gmail. Learn the differences between Google Chat and classic Hangouts.
Current known uses in the sector
Video overview
Pricing
Google Chat is free with a personal Google account.
Service Context and activities
Ease of use & Accessibility
Google Chat comes integrated with your Google account and is easy to use. For example, you can add Chat to your Gmail inbox and get all the features of Chat directly in Gmail. You can use Google Chat with a screen reader or keyboard shortcuts.
Mobile friendly
You can also use Google Chat on the web and on mobile with apps for Android, iOS and desktop.
Google Hangouts can be accessed online or through mobile apps available for iOS and Android.
Privacy/security features (including data security and message encryption)
Google Chat is not the most secure messaging app.
When creating a Google account, a valid name, email address, username, and password are required. It is also optional to provide a phone number to recover your account if the password is lost. Upon creation of your account, Google closely tracks your searches, bookmarks, and location services, among other data. These underlying data collection practices and Google’s sharing of your information with third parties make the use of Google tools for personal purposes unsafe.
Google offers information about privacy in this article, Understand the basics of privacy in Google Chat. According to Google “data is encrypted in-transit and at-rest.”
Google Chat offers different features for paid and personal accounts.
Multilingual capabilities
Additional resources