Hangouts for Chrome gets a complete overhaul - Brings Facebook-style "Chatheads" to the desktop
An overhauled Hangouts has landed on the Chrome Web Store for Windows and Chrome OS, featuring a new streamlined interface with gorgeous animations.
If you've ever used Facebook Messenger on your Android or iOS device, you'll feel right at home with the new Hangouts Chrome extension for Chrome OS and Windows users. Gone is a static user interface, the new Hangouts introduces an interface similar to "Chat heads" which allows the user to have a conversation without interrupting what you're doing on the desktop.
After installing the new extension, you'll notice a brand new icon for Hangouts (which will hopefully land on the Android and iOS apps soon). Click on that, and the icon will appear, overlaying the desktop or webpage you currently have open. From there, you can drag the icon anywhere on the lower-half of the display and when pressed, will spring up a list of your conversations.
Just like Gmail as of a few weeks ago, you can now switch between 2 tabs - a list of your pinned and online contacts and the other, a list of your conversations. As you open up conversations, you'll see their "bubbles" stacked above the Hangouts icon. New messages will display a preview spouting from the individual with a new message counter also.
Aside from all the visual awesome that the team have added, all the recent improvements to voice and video calling (Google Voice integration etc) are included in this release also.
"The app now has all the video and voice features you’re used to in Hangouts. We recently announced you can make phone calls to any number in the world (via Hangouts dialer) and now you can do this right from your desktop. If you use Google Voice, the app includes complete Google Voice support, so you can make and receive calls, and get your voicemails and SMS messages directly in Hangouts." - Google Chrome Blog
There are several additions to the settings in relation to the new features introduced today which you can toggle on/off to your hearts desire. They are:
Start Hangouts app when Chrome starts
Always on top
Auto-hide conversations
Show message preview for new messages
If you're not able to install the new Hangouts Chrome app for whatever reason, you can view all the visual changes summarised in the official video below:
Ready to download? Hitting the button below will take you direct to Hangouts on the Chrome App Store.
Very keen to hear your thoughts on the latest iteration of Hangouts for the desktop. Let me know what you think and what your favourite feature is in the comments below!
