Google Hangouts Review

Google+ is such a hit-or-miss proposition for many socially connected folks, so the company’s first Hangouts attempt – originally part of the Google+ app – passed by largely unnoticed. Now available as a standalone app, Hangouts appears hell-bent on reinventing the messaging wheel, but winds up leaving too many spokes off to make this a smooth ride.

While the free, universal Hangouts app offers cross-platform support between iOS, Android, Chrome OS, and web browsers, it’s really a baby step toward loftier goals – which will eventually include SMS and Google Voice integration. However, both features are currently MIA. The app offers little for those who’ve remained on the Google+ sidelines, since users will be required to sign up before they can communicate.

For those used to AOL-style instant messaging, Hangouts might feel like touching down on an alien planet. To start a new Hangout, you can select up to 10 Google+ users from the jumbled mess of those in your circles, as well as random folks presumably pulled from your address book. Whether one-on-one or in a group conversation, Hangouts can be used to send photos, message in real time (with optional emoji), or make video calls, where the focus automatically switches to whoever is speaking at a particular moment. This gets pretty amusing when more than one chatty user is on the line at a time.

We successfully initiated several one-on-one video calls, graduating to a four-person Hangout with a mix of a third-gen iPad, two iPhones, and an Android-based Verizon Droid DNA thrown in for good measure. Hangouts completely crashed on us at one point, but relaunching the app and tapping the still-in-progress session got us back in the action without missing a beat. Call us old school, but we miss the traditional IM trappings: There’s no way to see only a list of who’s online, for example, nor can users go offline and leave a status message in their wake. We also weren’t impressed with the picture quality of video calls – it was passable at best, even with a fast Wi-Fi connection.

The bottom line. Hangouts is a nice first step toward unification, but we’re waiting for the promised Google Voice integration before this has the potential to replace our go-to messaging apps.