With Hangouts you can stay in touch with family and friends
In this video we'll show you how easy it is to send and receive text messages
with your phone using Hangouts
You also can send multimedia messages to share photos,
videos and even animated GIFs. You can use these
SMS and MMS features if you have the Hangouts app on Android 4.0 and higher
Just remember that all text message charges through your mobile carrier still apply
First, check which device you're using for Hangouts
If you're using a Nexus 5, Hangouts is already installed as your primary text
messaging app
But if you're not on a Nexus 5
and are using Android 4.4 or higher
you'll need to make Hangouts your primary text messaging app. Here's how:
Open the Hangouts app on your Android device
and go to Settings. Open the SMS section
and touch SMS disabled. The change will make Hangouts your primary text messaging app
If you're using Android 4.3 or lower
you'll need to turn on text messages in Hangouts
First, open the Hangouts app on your Android device
and go to Setting. Open the SMS section
and check the box beside Turn on SMS. The change will make Hangouts your primary
text messaging app
When you turn on SMS, all of your existing text messages
are imported into Hangouts. You can only access these messages
on your Android phone and not from any other Hangouts on the web,
iOS device, or your tablet. If you decide later
you don't want to use Hangouts as your text messaging app, uncheck the box
beside Turn on SMS. Once you've turned on text messages in Hangouts
there are three ways to add a contact for the text message
Your first option is to open a new Hangouts page
and type the phone number directly in the search box. The second way is to search
for a contact's name or number in the new Hangouts page. Then choose Send SMS to
and touch the number contact you want to message
The third option is to choose a contact from the conversation list
Then choose SMS from the drop-down items. If your contact
isn't available on Hangouts and has a phone number
you'll see an SMS icon with the contact's profile photo
Once you've chosen the contact, type what you want to say in the message box
You can also send photos or videos through text messages
To send a photo or video with your text message
on the right side the message box, touch the camera icon. A box will appear
where you can choose what you want to do:
take a photo, take a video, or attach an existing photo
Once you've made your selection, touch the send icon to send the message
You also can customize your settings for text and multimedia messages
You can adjust your notifications to vibrate or sound, delete old messages,
automatically display multimedia in messages, and more
If you have more than one Hangouts account, you can only use one at a time
for text messages
Another setting you can manage is for wireless alerts
It lets you control whether you receive emergency alerts like
AMBER alerts or extreme weather threats so you're aware of major events
near your location
Now you can keep up with all your family and friends in one place
by using the Hangouts app to send and receive text in multimedia messages for your phone number
For more information about sending and receiving
text and multimedia messages using Hangouts, go to the
Hangouts Help Center at
support.google.com/hangouts