Google doesn’t know what to do with Google Chat, or that’s the feeling it conveys. What was once Hangouts Chat (focused on Google Workspaces customers) has become Google Chat. The company wanted to position this function as the means of communication in professional environments, but in the end there are other tools – like Slack – which are very widespread.
Now it looks like Google will open their chat with intended for use in personal communication with friends and family. In fact, the new Google Chat includes features that we see in WhatsApp and Telegram, but to test it you will have to take a little detour. Don’t worry because we tell you how.
The seven new features of Google Chat
Through a blog update, Google shared the new social features of Google Chat and, in fact, is directly aimed at use outside the business environment. They refer to sharing fun videos with family or finding group vacation spots with friends.
Then we leave you All upcoming improvements to Google Chat to facilitate this personal communication:
- Quick responses with the help of AI. With ‘Smart Compose’, Google Chat will offer us contextual suggestions to reduce grammar and spelling errors. When we write a message and we have an error, or it could be something richer, the suggestion will appear. By clicking on it, we accept it. This is something that will be gradually implemented in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.
- Edit and delete messages. It is not necessary to describe this option. When we send a message, we can click on it and several options will appear. One of them is the icon of a pencil that allows us to delete or modify the message. This is something that is already implemented for everyone.
- Quote a message in a group chat. Do you use WhatsApp or Telegram? Well, you already know how it works to retrieve a message from a group and reply to that person. It is something that is already available.
- Read the verification in a group chat. When you send a message in a group, the avatars of the members of this group will appear directly below. Those who appear there is because they have read your message. This is something that has already been available (for three years) in individual chats and will arrive this month for groups in the mobile and web versions.
- in-text links. If you’re writ ing a message, you can provide a web address that provides more information without pasting it later in the middle of the chat. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if for example it’s a long post with multiple links, in the coming weeks we’ll be able to link text on both desktop and Android versions. Simply, when we want to do it, we will have to select the text that we want to link and choose the “Insert link” option.
- hide conversations. Is there a conversation with a contact who has been there for a year and you haven’t spoken again? Well, you won’t have to hide the conversation manually, since Google does it automatically with direct messages and spaces that have been inactive for the past seven days. To review them, simply click ‘+’ to view all conversations.
- Add apps to chat. Just like other tools like Slack or Notion allow, apps can be added to the chat. Asana, Zapier or Giphy can be integrated, but there will be other applications that we can “install” in chats. This is a function that will arrive in the next few weeks.
As you see, most functions are taken from Telegram or WhatsAppso if you use these applications, it is not that Google Chat contributes much to it, but it is clear that Google wants to give more importance to this communication tool.
How to try out the new Google Chat even if the app isn’t updated
Now well, don’t run to download app from playstore because it is very likely that none of these functions will appear in this version. It’s funny, but although Google announced that the option to link text and group verifications will be available on mobile devices, it seems that all the communication of new Google Chat features is focused on the desktop version .
However, while they are updating the app, there is a way to test out these new features: web apps. We have already told you a lot about webapps because it is an excellent way to have certain applications installed without consuming the resources of native applications for our Android, but it is also the way to test certain functions which, for the moment, are not than available in the desktop version.
To install the Google Chat web application, you just have to enter this link and go to the top right, to the three vertical dots in your browser. Select the “Desktop view” option and when the web reloads, go back to the three dots and select “Install app”. Once done, it will appear as if it is another application, but it is actually a direct access to this website in desktop mode.
Do it, All you have to do is wait for the app to update, but Google is struggling to compete with applications that are much more established among users who, above all, have had several of these functions for years. Well, they keep updating (like WhatsApp with the ability to edit messages) without having to install the desktop version.
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