I've been on Android for more than a decade, and I still don't know what I'm "supposed" to be using. I have switched out that stuff for third party apps a few years back. Was a disaster zone, I'm sure it still is.
I hate to beat a dead horse but its been an issue even before Android. I had gmail in the inital invite-only launch back in 2004. They added their first real chat feature into gmail (back when gmail was the only google service you needed an account for) in 2006, 2 years before Android.
I don't even know what they call that chat-inside-gmail these days. Talk? Chat? I remember it getting merged with Hangouts eventually and then un-merged. Or was that Voice?
I was on Voice too as GrandCentral back before Google bought them. The mp3 ringback functionality which was the first feature lost in the purchase.
Ended up reminiscing a bit there but its been a crazy ride in the Google sphere.
That was google "Buzz" - a very simple XMPP based chat app, that it really wouldn't have hurt to hold on to. Last I heard it was merged into hangouts yeah, but hopefully it should still work with standalone XMPP clients ...
I don't understand the deep misguidedness of your question.
You've been on Android for decade, keep using what you've been using and you like. When did people become too dumb to choose a thing they like and started demanding socialism?
Socialism has started being adopted as a synonym for "something I don't like and/or don't understand". It would be funny if the word didn't have an existing meaning.
I don't even know what they call that chat-inside-gmail these days. Talk? Chat? I remember it getting merged with Hangouts eventually and then un-merged. Or was that Voice?
I was on Voice too as GrandCentral back before Google bought them. The mp3 ringback functionality which was the first feature lost in the purchase.
Ended up reminiscing a bit there but its been a crazy ride in the Google sphere.