
Hangouts for Android finally gets the 2-year-old iOS feature.
STATES CHRONICLE – Google’s own messaging apps, Hangouts, will soon be receiving a Play Store update that will let the user send and receive up to one minute of video.
The update will finally enable the feature to Android users. In February 2014, Hangouts for iOS was the first version of the app to add the feature, although it only allowed the recording and sending of videos that were up to ten seconds long.
The app then received an updated which enabled the recording and sending of videos that were up to one minute long, one month later in March.
Google was recently accused of making better versions of its apps for the iOS rather than for its own OS, Android. As a response, it appears that the company will be trying to make amends and bring out updates whenever possible.
Videos on Hangouts for Android, although two years late, will be supporting resolutions of up to 1080p. Videos on Hangouts for iOS currently support resolutions of up to only 360p, although after the latest update can be up to 2 minutes long.
A contrast between quality and quantity is starting to be visible between the two versions, at least until they will all share the same features.
Hangouts Version 11
To send a video to a Hangouts contact, users will have the option of live-recording an up to one-minute-long video with the app or choosing an already existing video from the on-board storage of the device. All video features will be accessible through the button next to the images features button on the chat bar.
With version 11, Hangouts will no longer support the merged view between SMS and conversations with the same contact. Google stated that users found the feature to be confusing and that it did not see much use. The feature has been entirely removed.
Nevertheless, version 11 will let any user present in a group remove another user. This is a big step forward in regards to group moderation on Hangouts, as those features are greatly lacking.
Finally, the patch includes a fix for square cropping of images and for static GIFs.
Hangouts v11 will be rolling out to the Google Play Store in the following days, so if your Android device does not automatically update, the app will be available for manual download soon.
Image Courtesy of Flickr.