The next version of Google Hangouts for Android will likely replace the stock Messaging app with a single, unified Hangouts version that detects whether the respondent is also using Google’s new multi-platform chat-and-conference service, and if so will send the message over data, and if not will send it via SMS.
The revelation was made by Android Police who, after hearing rumours of the service consolidation in Android 4.4 KitKat, received some pretty convincing screenshots showing Hangouts sending messages “via SMS.”
Messages sent via SMS will show “via SMS” next to the timestamp so that you can always figure out the protocol used for each message delivery. You can request delivery reports for sent SMSes – a feature that is part of the SMS protocol that some of you may be using regularly.
The fundamental question is whether this will be an Android 4.4-only thing, and how it will work with previous versions. It’s not like Google can update Play Services and all of a sudden hundreds of millions of Android users have a single, unified SMS app. More likely, Hangouts, like many third-party SMS apps, will ask to become the “default” and take over the role of the stock messaging app. Nexus devices will probably receive an update to remove the legacy Messages app and go forth with just Hangouts.
Guess we’ll have to wait and see!
[Via]
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