After its release for iOS, Google Hangouts version 4.0 is now available to Android users.
While the updated version keeps the app's popular green color accent, there's no doubt that it comes with a refreshed design as marked by the new floating compose button that appears on the bottom of the page. The interface looks cleaner and more simplified with the user's contacts appearing more streamlined than ever.
Apart from looking better, the new version is also simpler to use. Users can quickly pull up threaded conversations. It's now easier to start group messages and a lot simpler to add attachments. Users can even find beneath their text an array of icons which they can use for sending emoji, GIF, photos and location.
"Sharing - of emoji, GIFs, your location, even multiple photos at once - is a snap," says Amit Fulay, Google Product Manager, in a blog post.
The new design is in line with Google's push for Material Design which the company refers to as a "language." It is a sort of a dress code that can be implemented across devices and OS by using common elements and styles of the interface.
Material Design is ultimately aimed at making apps more intuitive and comprehensible. Prior to Hangouts, Google already implemented Material Design to its other popular mobile applications that include YouTube, Maps, Gmail and Drive.
"Now updated with material design, Hangouts has a new look and feel: items respond to your touch in more intuitive ways and transitions between tasks are more fluid," adds Fulay.
The new version also adds an outbound caller ID to the Hangouts dialer. Users can now use Google Voice when receiving and replying to group MMS messages. Those who are keen on keeping their custom status updated every day would be glad to know that the feature is now back.
Android Wear users are now able to send messages faster and quicker by simply saying "Ok Google, send a Hangouts message" into their watch.
"With Hangouts, we want to help you stay in the moment, no matter what device you're using or how you're getting your voice across, from texting to talking to video," Fulay says.
The new Hangouts 4.0 for Android will be available from the Play Store and users can expect the version to roll out to their devices beginning today.
