Life: Still frustrated with Google Hangout

Over four months, Hangout (in gmail) still unable to see if a user is online although I can now through the Hangout application (desktop and mobile). Unfortunately, I use the service in gmail more often because I use it for Google Voice. Also, the apps do not provide the status so I cannot tell if they are available or not.

I primarily use IM to send actual "instant" messaging. I do not care for the idea that it is more conversation related. My typical situation is that I have an urgent personal matter where I need to find someone at that moment. I used to just scan through my list and see who are most available and best at answering my questions.

With the new hangout, I am forced to message a group of people that may or may not be online (or available) then wait for a response. Depending on the group because some are not always online, I may not get a response which then I have just wasted 5-10 minutes that I could have used searching for other resources.

I have recently been quite disappointed in Google's rollout of new features where I am forced to use certain solutions that overrides other features that I used to be able to use (i.e. Hangout replacing Chat, Google Maps) when it does not have the same features. At least allow me to use both Hangout and Chat. Or perhaps this is just a sign of my age.

Reference

I did come across the blog below which has some interesting info and updates quite frequently for the last few years.

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com