5 ms·

Doesn't Hangouts do all of the above? The icons in Gmail are video chat, add user, voice chat, and send SMS. Hangouts on my Nexus 6 has the same options. Imgu

• fooey 10y ago
  Hangouts is abandoned by Google going forward except to support Enterprise customers
  • knz 10y ago
    Are they replacing it with anything in the Gmail UI?
• chrsstrm 10y ago
  Hangouts does not ship with the Pixel, you have to download it separately. IIRC it was also not easy to find in the Play Store. The Pixel pushes you to use Allo which is based on phone numbers and your phone's contact list, not your Google account contacts. If I want to message someone on Hangouts but I only know their email address (which pops up helpfully if I have corresponded with this person in Gmail), no problem. You can't do that in Allo - the people you message are identified by their phone number, not the fact that they have a Google account. In fact, you can't use Allo until you register your own number. So what is Allo? Is it SMS? Hangouts could already handle SMS and Google also released Messenger intending it to be your phone's default SMS client. The only entity you can message in Allo that doesn't need a phone number is Google Assistant, which isn't that great. If Allo requires you to be identified by a phone number, how is it better than SMS? If I change my phone number, am I just hosed? The best thing about Hangouts is that it let you message damn near anyone in any manner while being platform independent.
  • hendersoon 10y ago
    Not only are they tied to a single phone number, but my understanding is you can't run the same app on multiple devices. And that's my ENTIRE google voice use case! I want a number that works wherever I am, whatever carrier I use.
• losvedir 10y ago
  Hangouts does, but it's impossible to know if we're "supposed" to be using Hangouts. A year or so ago I received a pop-up in my Hangouts app that Google recommended I check out Messenger [0]. It also seems to be the currently recommended option [1] although I don't know why since, as you say, Hangouts can handle all those scenarios. This has understandably led to no end of confusion among Fi/Voice users, including myself. [2][3][4][5] [0] http://www.techtimes.com/articles/128591/20160129/google-retiring-hangouts-from-sms-latest-update-urges-users-to-download-google-messenger-for-texts.htm http://www.techtimes.com/articles/128591/20160129/google-ret... [1] https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6062495?p=fi_tips&rd=1&vid=0-954754602908-1485206449517 https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6062495?p=fi_tips&rd=1&... [2] https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-fi/egGFUnQqIYI https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-fi/eg... [3] https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-fi/04N2LWOGE9I https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-fi/04... [4] https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/hangouts/AcKrfMWLHcs https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/hangouts/AcKr... [5] https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-fi/cBOm3fvhIZI https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-fi/cB...
  • rspeer 10y ago
    Hangouts can't receive MMS without special support from your mobile operator. Operators such as T-Mobile and... Google Voice... have been known to insufficiently provide that support.
    • shaklee3 10y ago
      All operators have worked fine for over two years. They announced this back then.
      • rspeer 10y ago
        Okay, you can announce that everything is fine, but it just ain't so. I missed MMS messages on T-Mobile in 2016. Google's suggested solution, besides twiddling cellular network settings and asking your friends to keep texting you until it works, is to stop using Hangouts [1]. [1] https://support.google.com/hangouts/answer/6318464?hl=en https://support.google.com/hangouts/answer/6318464?hl=en