Hangouts 4.0 begins rolling out with material design

For one of its biggest apps, Google has been surprisingly slow with keeping Hangouts as up to speed as its other apps. Today the company is releasing Hangouts 4.0 for Android, which brings in a number of large changes, most notable of which is the complete addition of material design, which has long been missing/incomplete within Hangouts. The addition of material design has brought in a significant addition in the form of a universal compose button that allows you to start a new group, message or call with just a tap or two. It’s also even faster to share attachments such as photos or emoji with a simplified menu.

Google is also boasting speed and efficiency improvements with hangouts, noting a number of bug fixes and less battery consumption. A whole host of other improvements are bundled in that include but aren’t limited to outgoing caller ID, MMS messages through Google Voice, Hangouts for Android Wear and custom status messages.

It’s a hefty update and brings in many of the oft-requested features that users have been talking about. The update is rolling out now, but you may not see it for a couple of days. Stay patient and you’ll be rewarded.