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Google Hangouts 4.0: now simpler, faster, more beautiful

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Re: Google Hangouts 4.0: now simpler, faster, more beautiful

#41
post #27

Hangouts is "okay" at best. I continue to be amazed that companies like Microsoft and Google are so bad at instant messaging that upstarts like Slack can eat their lunch with essentially hosted IRC and a pretty client.

I for one wish Slack was the new standard messaging app for everything and everyone.

Re: Google Hangouts 4.0: now simpler, faster, more beautiful

#43
I wish they'd stop guzzling battery on iOS. On my iPhone, the two top background activity apps are Facebook and Hangouts, neither of which (sadly) I can actually get rid of since I use the first for work (seriously...) and the second to be reachable to Android users.

Re: Google Hangouts 4.0: now simpler, faster, more beautiful

#44
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The convenience of being able to use several devices (laptop, tablet, phone) to seamlessly continue conversations is pretty much the main reason I like these services. Pidgin and Adium do not support (transferrable) chat history and do not show messages when I'm offline, which is a huge usability hit. Especially when people talking on the other side expect that the messages are visible to you even if you're not immed…

> Pidgin and Adium do not support (transferrable) chat history and do not show messages when I'm offline, which is a huge usability hit. This times a million. GChat (now "hangouts"), though their XMPP interface, attempts to send new messages only to the "active" client, which means that if you try to use Pidgin or Adium (I used both myself for a number of years; they're fantastic applications) or any other XMPP clien…

Whoa! Thank you for this. I stopped using pidgin because of this and couldn't sort out what was causing me to miss IMs.

Re: Google Hangouts 4.0: now simpler, faster, more beautiful

#46
> We’ve been obsessively fixing bugs and speeding up message delivery to make Hangouts faster and more reliable.

Well, that would be quite a feat if they managed to make it less reliable. The latest version I tried to use was ridiculously buggy, crashing, couldn't join a conversation etc. I was so boggled by how bad it was (Google's app, on Google's OS) I even forgot to be angry for a while

Re: Google Hangouts 4.0: now simpler, faster, more beautiful

#47
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not use Pidgin or Adium?

The convenience of being able to use several devices (laptop, tablet, phone) to seamlessly continue conversations is pretty much the main reason I like these services. Pidgin and Adium do not support (transferrable) chat history and do not show messages when I'm offline, which is a huge usability hit. Especially when people talking on the other side expect that the messages are visible to you even if you're not immed…

I've been using Trillian Pro for this for many years, and it's worth every penny. My history is always in sync between my Windows, OSX, and iOS devices, and Trillian's desktop interface is so much better than Gmail's chat interface.

Re: Google Hangouts 4.0: now simpler, faster, more beautiful

#48
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not use Pidgin or Adium?

The convenience of being able to use several devices (laptop, tablet, phone) to seamlessly continue conversations is pretty much the main reason I like these services. Pidgin and Adium do not support (transferrable) chat history and do not show messages when I'm offline, which is a huge usability hit. Especially when people talking on the other side expect that the messages are visible to you even if you're not immed…

Pidgin/Adium also no longer support group conversations for Hangouts chats, at least as of a few months ago.

Re: Google Hangouts 4.0: now simpler, faster, more beautiful

#49
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not use Pidgin or Adium?

The convenience of being able to use several devices (laptop, tablet, phone) to seamlessly continue conversations is pretty much the main reason I like these services. Pidgin and Adium do not support (transferrable) chat history and do not show messages when I'm offline, which is a huge usability hit. Especially when people talking on the other side expect that the messages are visible to you even if you're not immed…

I know this isn't ideal for most people, but you can run a low-power server (Rpi2!) at home with a Tmux session running and Finch/IRC open therein. You can catch up on your messages from any device.

Re: Google Hangouts 4.0: now simpler, faster, more beautiful

#50
post #34

Can I actively control my visibility settings, as with every other IM client? Inability to control my own visibility makes Hangouts an absolute non-starter for me, and many other people that I talk to. Our only choice is to keep it turned off at all times. Which is a shame, because Google Chat used to be my go-to messaging client.

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