Since the integration of SMS into Google Hangouts, there has been some confusion with the conversation history with people in your feeds. Now Google is attempting to fix that in the latest update to their unified messaging client with their latest update rolling out to Hangouts users over the next week.
The merged conversation view will integrate SMS messages into your current stream with SMS messages showing up as a white message, while Hangouts messages will be a coloured with a green hue. You’ll be able to control whether you send a message as an SMS or a traditional Hangouts message with the flip of a switch.
The goodies in this latest Hangouts update don’t end there though, with a simplified contact list also being introduced. Contacts will be listed in two sections — People you Hangout With, and Phone Contacts — with the aim of making it easier to switch between the two.
Google has also added a Homescreen widget for Hangouts to let you see your recent conversations. And as usual there will be performance improvements, specifically to the quality of video calls and improved SMS and MMS reliability.
As usual this will be a staged rollout, but it shouldn’t take more than a week to hit your device.
Have they fixed that MMS issue? Last time I tried it, it was still there.
I’ve been using 8sms since Hangouts became the default messaging app. Is there any advantage to switching to Hangouts?
Google needs to push Hangouts now as part of GMS (if they aren’t already). That will truly make it the iMessage alternative it needs to be.
Great news! I’ve been hoping for proper SMS integration since Hangouts first came out. Should’ve been there from the start.
Exactly! Looking forward to seeing this in action though.