The summer had just culminated for Google and for the entire messaging world in general, with the release of Allo.
Earlier in May this year, Google had announced at its I/O developers conference that two new apps namely, Duo, a video calling and chatting app, and Allo, an instant messaging app built of the steps of Facebook Messenger and iMessage.
Of course, Google has always had the other messaging app which has been around for a while on Android and iOS, the Hangouts, which was born from the ashes of Google Talk. Google Hangouts will stay around though Duo and Allo have been introduced recently. Probably, it is a sign from Google that they are standing by their word. Google wants the users to know that haven’t forgotten about Hangouts yet, so the app has been recently updated to a new version 13.0 for Android, which offers support for the Chrome Custom Tab.
Enable Browsing from the Settings
Once the Google Hangouts app is updated with the latest version 13.0 for Android, the users will have to go to the Settings of the app and look for the option ‘Browse in Hangouts’. This option comes enabled by default. There is also an option where the user is prompted to open the page in Chrome.
Removal of Merged Conversations
As reported by 9to5Google, there is a warning that is displayed at the top of the Settings menu, which reminds the users that ‘Conversation merging is no longer available’. Google has removed the merging of conversations which means that with the newly updated version 11.0 of the Hangouts for Android, from now on the SMS text messages and Hangout Messages from a single user will be displayed in the same conversation.
Regarding the excision of the merged conversations, Google said that earlier it allowed the users to see the text messages and Hangout messages in the same conversation, but has now decided to remove it as it is causing a lot of confusion to the users and is also having a low usage rate. In addition to this, the update will also avoid piling up of the tabs within the Google Chrome app, as the users will now be able to open and view all the content within Hangouts Itself, with the Chrome rendering engine. It also becomes easier when the user is trying to share links constantly with other users.
Google has clarified that it wants Duo and Allo to be consumer focused, while Hangouts will be business centric. Google also announced recently that Hangouts On Air will now move to YouTube Live from Google+. The search giant reported that the users cannot schedule any events on Google+ after 12th September, and even the existing events that are due after September 12th will have to move to YouTube Live.
The new updated Google Hangouts Version 13.0 for Android is rolling out gradually and should be available to the users in the near future.