Google is shutting down Hangouts completely and replacing it with Chat soon. It seems they are making it mandatory now since they don't want Chat to fail like many of their previous apps. However... Hangouts isn't one of those failures.

Hangouts has a userbase going back over a decade (since Google Talk's launch) of tens of thousands of people including all of my friends and the students in my school district. There is no reason to get rid of Hangouts seeing as Chat lacks many of its features, and lots of people still actively use it. Though there is a myriad of better alternatives (which Google is making unsuccessful attempts to compete with), I chose Hangouts for so many years because it holds memories and is special to me. 

And then Chat arrives. It doesn't even have a built-in call feature (making browser users open a different tab), as Google is pushing Meet due to its success amidst the pandemic. Along with it, say goodbye to chronological order. Of course, groupchats and DMs need to be separated. Say goodbye to seeing which people read your message in a groupchat- read receipts only appear in private conversations now. Say goodbye to seeing when someone was last active... that feature seems to have disappeared completely. Say goodbye to all the funny commands like /pitchforks and /ponystream to freak your friends out. Hell, say goodbye to setting a permanent status. Why do they need to expire again? And say goodbye to many unsatisfied users... as Google is killing off a useful and comprehensive chatting app in favor of an incomplete alternative to Slack.

Once Hangouts goes away, texting with my friends will never be the same. Sure, Chats does have new features, such as reactions and the ability to search through messages. However, these are common features of other messaging apps, which, being primarily devoted to messaging rather than an add-on to another app (Gmail), are clearly better than Google Chats. By trying to take after such apps, Google is forcing Hangouts to lose what makes it unique. Why would users who frequent more advanced apps suddenly switch to Google Chats? The only thing Google will accomplish with this change is losing users it already has. Some people who dislike Chat's new design, or don't feel like downloading/becoming acquainted with a new app, may decide to stop using it completely and go on Snapchat, Discord, Instagram, etc. instead... and driving users away is exactly the opposite of what Google wants to achieve.

Google Chat is fine on its own, and I can put up with Google's relentless advertising. I don't mind if it peacefully coexists with its familiar, more comprehensive, and arguably superior counterpart. However, the issue is that Google wants to get rid of Hangouts entirely- taking many memories and features with it and possibly dissuading some users from ever coming back. 

If enough people sign this, maybe we can get Google's attention. Let's stop Hangouts's unwarranted demise together.