Google has been accused of making better apps for iOS than for Android, but this latest move brings Hangouts on Google’s own operating system up to speed.
It has been two years since Google brought the ability to record and send video messages to its iOS Hangouts app. Now the feature has been added to the Android version.
Record and send video within Android Hangouts chat
Now Hangouts users that are on the Android operating system will be able to record and send videos of up to 60 seconds in length from inside the app. The feature will be introduced as soon as the Hangouts update is available from their country specific Google Play store.
Strangely enough iOS Hangouts users have been able to record and send video since February 2014. However these early efforts were limited to 10 seconds. That changed in March when the limit was increased to 60 seconds for iOS users.
Android users did get an update, but it only added features like the ability to send stickers inside conversations on Google Voice. This is part of a developing trend in which Google seems to be making its apps better for iPhone than Android.
Why does Google delay features for Android?
The Hangouts chat app has come in for its fair share of criticisms over the years, especially from Android users. On iOS the app at least feels coherent, whereas commentators have criticized the constant changing of button placement on the Android software.
The inconvenient thing about this is that although the apps are better on iOS, they are obviously not as well integrated as Apple’s own. It’s a strange situation which means that while Google is working harder on innovative app ideas, it is not developing them well for Android and iOS does not integrate them properly.
One example is Google Inbox. The app attempts to integrate emails and reminders into one app and includes some clever features. This is one app which is about as good on iOS and Android, according to commentators, but it is not properly integrated into iOS.
As it stands Android Hangouts users can rejoice at their new video feature, and the rest of us will remain confused by Google’s policy of delaying features for apps on its own operating system.
