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Google Chat is getting a major revamp, with a new interface that combines some of the best features of Slack and Microsoft Teams. It recently introduced Duet AI, support for up to 500,000 members in Spaces (a 10x increase), and now the aesthetics are here to give it a final touch.
The latest updates to Google Chat include a new logo which pays homage to Hangouts, a revamped homepage which acts like a central hub, and a redesigned navigation panel.
Google Chat’s new icon gets a four-color style
The latest icon follows the four-color design seen in all other Google Workspace apps (Keep, Tasks, and Voice). Most importantly, the primary color is green, possibly paying homage to Hangouts.
According to Google, this new Chat icon symbolizes the pivotal role of business messaging and collaboration within Workspace. It will roll out in the coming weeks and appear in the top-left corner of the website and mobile apps.
The revamped navigation panel & homepage
The biggest of all is an all-new refreshed navigation panel which hosts the latest additions: Home and Mentions. The “Home” tab acts as a central hub for all conversations. You can see all messages where you have been mentioned in the Mentions tab. The Direct Messages and Spaces tabs remain collapsible, with no major changes.
The Google Chat just updated its homepage, and it brings everything into one place. it acts like a central hub and will help users catch up on all the latest happenings across various conversations.
And here’s the cool part: users can now customize their message-viewing experience by using filters. So, if you only want to see unread messages, you can easily focus on those without any hassle.
The all-new “Mentions”
The update brings a new “Mentions” tab, similar to Slack, showing messages where people have tagged you. Besides the @-mention, it will also include images and files shared in those messages. Moreover, Google writes in a blog post that the light blue with a blue dot on the right hints at unread messages. The company also added that each row represents a message in the thread mentioning you. Also, multiple mentions in a conversation will appear as separate rows.
All the Google chat updates have begun rolling out already, with full availability expected in the coming weeks for all Google Workspace and personal Google account users.