Hangout users saw a number of new emotes in the previous v12, the previous version of the messaging app. Now, the latest update shows that Google has come up with a full list of emotes accessible in Hangouts v13. There is also a new option to open web links with an in-app browser, though it may not be available to everybody at this moment, not only that the updated version of Hangout will have its own launcher shortcuts when Android 7.1 comes out.
New emotes: –
Google says that emotes can be very useful in conversation, or at least funny with the right timing. This update adds a bunch of familiar emotes that have been available to the web version for quite some time. The list of the specific keywords to activate them is: –
algebraic, deal with it, disapprove, facepalm, flower beam, happy, lgtm, lit, octodisco, puppy party, shame, shrug, success, sunglasses, tagleback, tableflip, that, this, wizard, yuno.
These keywords must be started with “/” to make them work.
Built-in In-App Browser: –
This feature will be very helpful for those who don’t like to switch to a browser to see links posted in chat. This will help them to use Chrome’s custom tabs instead of opening a separate browser app. But one drawback of it is that it will not be available for all devices. It looks like there is a server-side switch controlling this for some reason.
Launcher Shortcuts: –
All the Google core apps are getting updated to add their own shortcuts accepting Hangouts too. Hangouts will just give the user’s, a way to skip the standard interface and go straight to the features they want. The list includes New conversations, New video call, New audio call etc.
