Yesterday, Google pushed out an update to Hangouts which brought individual ringtones for conversations and some battery fixes. But something else that missed the radar was the Google+ integration. Typically when you tap on a contact, you’ll be taken to their Google+ profile or in the Contacts/People app their little contact card will pop up. Where you’ll see Email, phone number, web address and usually their Google+ profile, but the Google+ profile is now gone. So it’s interesting to see how the Google+ is no longer with Hangouts, especially with all the “Google+ is dead” since Vic Gundotra left a few weeks ago. I still don’t think Google+ is dead, but I think it’s maturing and Google is realizing that they don’t need to have it tie in so closely with Hangouts and some other products. But that’s just my thoughts. Additionally, if you have people in Hangouts you talk to that aren’t in your address book, you aren’t going to see a contact card pop up.
So not really a feature or anything, but still interesting and something that needs to be pointed out. It’s not a huge deal to me, but being able to tap on a user’s profile picture and going to their Google+ profile was a bit strange. It’s great to see Hangouts now standing out on it’s own. And with Google I/O coming up in a few weeks I’m willing to bet we’ll see a bit more from the Hangouts and Google+ teams, as far as new features and redesigns go.
How many of you noticed that Google+ integration is pretty much gone in Hangouts v2.1.223? What are your thoughts on the change? Could it be the start of something bigger? Feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.