Google has rolled out an update to its Hangouts app for Android that adds stickers and video filters, in addition to making it easier for people that are looking for each other to connect through a smarter location share feature.
The iOS version of the Hangouts app is still pending approval from Apple to be posted at the App Store.
In addition to a Google+ post on the update, Google VP of product Bradley Horowitz detailed the changes in the LeWeb conference in Paris.
The updated location share feature of the Hangouts app uses natural-language processing to determine if one person asked where the other person is. Hangouts then offers the person being asked the option to send information on his or her exact location.
"This is one of the most familiar experiences - people are trying to connect in physical world," said Horowitz, using the example of people trying to find each other within high-population locations such as conferences and movie theaters.
Google is working hard to realize the ambitious goal of making Hangouts the definitive communications tool, as communicating with one another is one of the most important activities for users on their PCs and smartphones.
Being able to place itself at the center of communications with Hangouts, just as how it has done so with Gmail, will allow Google to keep users within its ecosystem of products and services.
The aim of Hangouts to become an all-purpose tool for communications means that it has to cater to all kinds of users, which includes those that love to communicate using stickers.
The recent update for Hangouts adds hundreds of stickers for users to insert into chats, which according to Horowitz includes cats, pirates, vikings, and many more. There are also some stickers that are not just static pictures, which users will be discovering as they use the stickers more.
Another new feature for the Hangouts app is the introduction of video filters for video chats. Users are now able to add effects in real-time to their video chats, allowing users to add a form of expression to the content that they are sending.
The new Hangouts also includes improvements to its reliability and performance, as the app moves to the Material Design style that Google is implementing.
While an app that includes a massive list of features could prove to be bloated and confusing, Google thinks that its move to include as many kinds of communication as possible in Hangouts will succeed due to the need for users to change from one form to another, even within one conversation.
