Google added SMS support in Hangouts for Android back in 2013 to encourage use of Hangouts so they can read instant-messages sent them over SMS in case they don’t have an internet connection. After some reports in 2014 and 2015 that said that Google will kill support for carrier SMS and MMS, Google has decided to kill SMS support for Hangouts in May, 2017.
In an email sent out to G Suite administrators, Google said that a warning will appear to Hangouts users starting March 27 asking them to switch to another SMS app since SMS for Hangouts will soon go away. It also says that SMS support will be completely removed from Hangouts on May 22.
After Google removed messaging app on Nexus devices and released an updated Hangouts app that combined SMS and Hangouts conversation at the end of 2014, it released a standalone Messenger app in November 2014, which was recently renamed as Android Messages.
Earlier this month Google launched Hangouts Meet video conferencing service in an attempt to focus more on enterprise users. Google’s Head of Product for Allo and Duo said that Hangouts ‘is not going anywhere’.