A new update for Google Hangouts makes it much more usable for Android as conversation merging is added. Now all text (SMS) messages and Hangout messages from the same contact are combined into a single conversation.

The contact list has also been improved: it is now divided into two sections – your phone’s address book and “People you Hangout With”.

There is also a homescreen widget for quick access to recent conversations and tweaks for better-quality video calls and SMS reliability. It’s coming to the Google Play store this week.

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