Google has been trying to gain a foothold in the world of social networking for years. A first blow was struck with the arrival of Google+. The company is now taking an important second step by merging all its chat functionalities under the name Google Hangouts. But how exactly does it work?
Mobile app
Because Google has now merged all chat functionalities into Hangouts, the company has finally been able to launch an app for the various mobile platforms. That makes Google a formidable competitor for services such as WhatsApp and iMessage in one fell swoop. Firstly because the app is completely free (unlike WhatsApp) and secondly because it is available for almost every platform (unlike iMessage).
With the Hangouts mobile app, Google is a direct competitor to both WhatsApp and iMessage.
So the best of both worlds and with that Google has taken an important step. Working with Hangouts on the smartphone is pretty straightforward, meaning that as long as you have a Google account, all you need to do is log in and start chatting with all your contacts right away.
Activate Hangouts
Slowly but surely, Google is rolling out Hangouts for all its users, but because the number of users is so huge, it is a phased process that takes quite a while. That's not to say you can't activate it now if you're interested in it.
If Hangouts isn't already enabled for you, you can force it yourself.
To switch to Hangouts, if Google hasn't already offered you that option, log into Gmail and click the drop-down menu next to your profile picture. Then you will see the option Try the new Hangouts. If you click on it, it will be turned on automatically. You can always go back via the same menu, but Hangouts will become permanent in the long run.
Chat with Hangouts
At first glance, when you've switched to Hangouts, not much has changed, apart from the fact that the chat menu has been expanded a bit. You no longer see the option to invite people to a chat; instead it now says New Hangout. Basically it means the same thing, except that a Hangout can contain multiple people.
However, you only notice the big difference when you start chatting with someone. First, there is a different sound and the icons have changed, but that is of course not a shocking innovation. Very different (and very nice) is that you can now send images via the chat by clicking on the icon with the camera at the bottom right. Good to know if you send an image to someone who is not using Hangout yet, that person will receive a link to the image, so in principle sending images to anyone is possible. By clicking on the icon with the doll and the plus sign, you can add someone to the conversation. This way you can expand your Hangout at any time.
Furthermore, the chat window has minor layout changes and more options to save the history. The biggest innovation is of course the possibility for all users with a Google account to chat with each other, whether this is via the smartphone or via the browser.
You can now finally send photos via the chat window.
