The Google Hangouts 4.0 for Android was released today with a fresh new look, improved speed, and features that make it even easier to reach people the way you want to reach them. Here's what's new:

- Now updated with material design, Hangouts has a new look and feel: items respond to your touch in more intuitive ways and transitions between tasks are more fluid.
- The new Compose button makes it easier for you to start a new group or conversation. The streamlined contacts list helps you find the right person quickly. And attachments have been revamped and simplified, so sharing of emoji, GIFs, your location, even multiple photos at once is a snap.
- Google has been fixing bugs and speeding up message delivery to make Hangouts faster and more reliable. Bonus: less battery consumption.



The new Hangouts starts rolling out to Android users today and will be available in the Play Store (iOS users recently got many of the same updates).