Google Hangouts is finally bringing video messaging capabilities to its Android app. The latest update that bumps the app to version 11, lets users record and send videos.
The feature which was already present on iOS since 2014 is finally coming to Android. You can record a video upto a minute from either inside the app by tapping the video icon, or upload from video saved to their device. It can then be sent to other users and you can see the upload progress.
Few months back Google increased the 10 second video limit on iOS to a one minute and now it has been upped to 2 minutes. However, it looks like it will take time for this functionality to hit Android.
Besides video messaging feature, Hangouts has also taken down the ability to merge SMS and Hangouts conversations into a single thread. Google says they have done this “because it caused user confusion and had low usage”.
Play Store – Hangouts
[Update] – Google is rolling out new feature for Hangouts on Android that lets you invite anyone to join your group chat by sharing a unique link. You can open the group’s options page to enable joining by link. The link can be disabled any time.
In addition to group link sharing, you can also easily find your group conversations by searching for the group name or participant name. This is available with the latest update on Android and will be available on iOS soon.