Google's new Hangouts Chrome app delivers the chat experience we've been waiting for
I recently vented my frustration at Hangouts and Google, but today I am extremely elated. Google has released a true Chrome desktop application for Chrome. It runs outside your browser, and you get a pin-able icon in your app drawer so you are not forced to open up Chrome.
But most of this could be handled by the Hangouts extension they had previously, so what's the difference? This one doesn't suck. It actually takes advantage of being outside of the browser and has a great workflow.
The new desktop app is based on the experience of circles, not unlike Facebook's chat heads on mobile. If you start a new chat or receive a message, a new circle appears to house the conversation, complete with an indicator for number of unread messages. Check out Google's video below to see a run through.
Google got the little things right this time. The circles occupy very little space, which is important as they stay above all your other windows -- but are still easily accessible. A chat bubble that appears next to the circle when you receive a message, giving you an opportunity to view the message for a moment. Hovering over a circle also gives you a preview of the last message. The actual Hangouts chat window that opens up when you click a circle goes away right when you click on anything else on your desktop. The new Google Hangouts Chrome app is there when you want it, but blends into the background for when you don’t.
There are little annoyances. For example, the message indicator stops at '2+.' I have no idea if I got three messages to read, or 35. I can't put the chat bubble in the top right corner. The chat window 'action buttons' to minimize, close, or pop out don’t make much sense now that is part of a new interface. But little things like these are forgiven on the first version of a project -- I do expect them to get fixed eventually so hopefully Google does not set its sights on a brand new Hangouts project in the meantime.