In 2019, Google launched the work-focused Currents to replace the Google Plus service in G Suite. However, in a blog post on Thursday, officials announced plans to shut down Currents. Starting in 2023, old users will be referred to Spaces — which are somewhat similar to Google Chat’s version of Slack channels, or Discord rooms.
Google’s explanation for why this shift is made is that users will not have to work in isolation and in isolation, but will be able to take advantage of chat and room features more actively, and will soon gain integration with Gmail’s mail service.
At the same time, the company promises to make Spaces a more suitable replacement for Currents next year, complete with new features — as supporting a larger community, leading communications, enabling advanced search, and a content moderation tool.
Starting in the first quarter of 2022, Google will gradually turn off the rarely used Currents feature. The company lists the features that will be removed or downgraded in a support document, and promises to keep Workspace administrators informed of future changes and migration timelines.
It should be pointed out that this is the second time Google has shut down a product called Currents. Before the current iteration, it was used in a magazine app of the same name.