It has a mobile app available for iOS and Android. Mobile Apps: If you need to use this service while away from your desktop, Google Hangouts has your back. Calls made in the United States are free, but international calls cost money depending on the country. If you don’t want to use your personal cell phone number, you can sign up for a Google Voice phone number. Screen sharing is perfect for going over step-by-step processes in real-time. Users can invite more people to create group calls, and the screen share option allows all participants to focus on one user’s screen. This feature is perfect for sharing links, photos, and notes while speaking to others. There is also in-call messaging, which is using the text feature during a call. Once a call has begun, users can turn off their cameras or mute microphones with a single click. Video call members can also be invited through the search bar. The photos icon at the bottom right allows users to easily send photos to the group.įor video calls, click the video call button, and a window will pop up. To add more people and make it a group chat, you’ll click the plus icon at the top of the chatbox. When you want to chat with someone, simply type their name or email address in the search bar and send them an invitation. There is also a hybrid option combining both video calls and chats.Įase of Use: Anyone even slightly familiar with technology can easily use Google Hangouts. You can use the chat option for quick questions and calls for longer conversations. Contact flexibility is essential because video calling is not always preferred. These integrations can save time and gives Google Hangouts a sense of familiarity with Google users.Ĭontacting Options: Google Hangouts also has instant messaging, voice calling, and video calling.

Users can pull contacts from Google Contacts and add a phone number with Google Voice. This is a huge benefit for people who already use other Google apps. Google Workspace Integration: Like other Google products, Google Hangouts seamlessly integrates with other Google Workspace apps. Google Hangouts: The Good and The Bad The Good

See all of our top picks here to make an informed decision on what will work best for you. We’ve tried countless video conferencing tools to compile a list of the best. Livestorm – Best if you focus heavily on webinars and live events.

Vectera – Best for branded 1:1 video calls with customers & clients.Microsoft Teams – Best video conferencing tool for large businesses.Zoho Meeting – Best for simple webinars at a budget-friendly price.RingCentral – Best video conferencing software for most businesses.If you’re looking for a video conferencing tool for your business, it’s important to know the best providers. Nonetheless, as a personal communication tool, it is a good one with a lot of advantages, including being free and easy to use. It was created to be a more basic tool, and it’s no match for the top video conferencing tools designed to support businesses of any size. Google Hangouts failed to make our top video conferencing software list. Compare Google Hangouts to The Best Video Conferencing Software Hangouts was excellent for personal use, but lacked some important capabilities that we saw from competitors like Zoho Meeting and RingCentral Video. Google Hangouts was an instant messaging service that the company discontinued in November 2022. Joe brings that same passion to How-To Geek.UPDATE: Google Hangouts has been transitioned to Google Chat. If something piques his interest, he will dive into it headfirst and try to learn as much as possible. Outside of technology, Joe is an avid DIYer, runner, and food enthusiast. After several years of jailbreaking and heavily modifying an iPod Touch, he moved on to his first smartphone, the HTC DROID Eris. He got his start in the industry covering Windows Phone on a small blog, and later moved to Phandroid where he covered Android news, reviewed devices, wrote tutorials, created YouTube videos, and hosted a podcast.įrom smartphones to Bluetooth earbuds to Z-Wave switches, Joe is interested in all kinds of technology. He has written thousands of articles, hundreds of tutorials, and dozens of reviews.īefore joining How-To Geek, Joe worked at XDA-Developers as Managing Editor and covered news from the Google ecosystem. Joe loves all things technology and is also an avid DIYer at heart. He has been covering Android and the rest of the Google ecosystem for years, reviewing devices, hosting podcasts, filming videos, and writing tutorials. Joe Fedewa has been writing about technology for over a decade.

Google hangouts messenger