by Google+ is 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.
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