NEW YORK: Google updates Hangouts with a new feature that allows users to share their location within conversations. It also added stickers, video filters, timestamps and better integration with their phone’s contacts.
“Hangouts can now understand what users need and offer to help,” the company wrote in a post on Google “users will see a one-tap option to share their location right in the conversation, without their needing to hunt around in a map, drop a pin and send their position.”
This feature, which Google calls smart suggestions, relies on the same natural-language processing that the company uses in its search engine. Currently, it’s only able to identify queries about location, but Google said it’s just “the start of something new,” so smart suggestions will likely expand.
Finally, update introduced 16 new sticker packs and video filters, including sepia, vignette, and black and white options.
The latest version of Hangouts is rolling out to Android users while the company said an iOS update will be available “soon.”
