Google has announced a host of new updates for Hangouts for Android which the company promises that it has “improved speed, fresh new look and features that will make it even easier to reach people the way you want to reach them.”
There are 6 new updates to Hangouts for Android:
1. Google has added a new compose button that makes it easier to start a conversation or start a new group on Hangouts. The contact list has been streamlined too so as to easily find people to start a conversation with. They have also made it easier to share GIF’s, location, emojis and multiple photos thanks to the revamped user interface
2. Hangouts finally has been updated with the Material Design Google launched with Lollipop.This makes it finally catch up with the other Google apps that have been updated with this new design scheme.
3. Google claims they have made Hangouts faster by fixing bugs and speeding up message delivery which they promise it will make it faster, more reliable and better still, use less battery.
4. The Hangouts Dialer has also been updated where now thanks to Outbound Caller ID, your friends will be able to identify you. Previously, these sort of calls would be marked as “Unknown”.
5. You can now reply and receive to group MMS messages in Hangouts using Google Voice. This will work well with Android Wear devices, where you say “Ok Google, send Hangouts message”
6. Custom status messages have been restored now on Hangouts and now you can inform your friends on what’s on your minds.
The messaging frontier has been quite heated recently with Facebook pushing various updates to Messenger & WhatsApp for Android and iOS. The new Google Hangouts for Android update is rolling out as of today, which will make it in line with the iOS version.
