Google’s Hangouts App for Web Updated With Material Design Elements

• The web version of the Hangouts app has undergone a design overhaul with updated icons, backgrounds and more.
• Google had introduced its new theming tools as part of its refreshed Material Design guidelines earlier this year to help make apps feel consistent throughout platforms.
• While the changes to the Hangouts Chat interface are not too drastic, they serve as indicators to what the future of Google apps will look like.

One of the key highlights from the Google I/O earlier this year were the new and improved Material Design guidelines as well as a set of theming tools that was introduced by the tech giant. It’s not just third-party developers that are taking advantage of the new material theming tools; Google has splashed its Hangouts Chat interface for desktop with a much-needed design overhaul.

The newly updated Google Hangouts interface includes new icons, a greyed-out background, and other redesigned UI elements. The chat cards have gone down in size and text is much crisper and prominent thanks to the new color scheme. Gmail was one of the first Google products to be treated with the new Material design, and Google Chrome is set to receive a massive design overhaul as well in the near future.

Image Courtesy of Android Police

With Android P releasing soon, Google is likely to overhaul all of the company's mobile apps before the mobile OS is updated for smartphones and tablets. The new material design update was leaked by a tipster, and it is unknown if the updated design elements are part of a test build of Hangouts Chat or if the new UI is rolling out for all users across the globe.

The Material Theming engine by Google is available to app developers for free and offers a range of customization tools. The engine is quite user-friendly and offers app developers complete control over UI elements including the size and designs. The engine also offers smart suggestions which users can implement to make their apps feel consistent in terms of design.

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