This article was published on September 7, 2015

Weird Hangouts glitch means some Android users can’t chat


Weird Hangouts glitch means some Android users can’t chat

If you’re a Google Apps user, you may want to hold off on upgrading to the newest version of Hangouts (version 4.0) on Android; a strange glitch means some users can’t connect to Google’s chat server.

According to Android Police, if your Google Apps account has had Hangouts disabled by an administrator, you won’t be able to use Hangouts for any account on your phone.

In other words, if you use your phone to check your work email, but an admin has disabled Hangouts for that account, you won’t be able to chat using your personal email either, or any other Google emails on your phone.

Image credit: Android Police
Image credit: Android Police

Obviously, that shouldn’t be the case – and indeed if you revert back to Hangouts, 3.3 the problem goes away.

Your only other solutions appear to be completely removing the offending work account from your device, or enabling Hangouts via the Admin console if you happen to have access for that account.

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It’s a shame, given Hangouts just received a nifty material design overhaul with numerous useful features.

Apparently Google’s known about the issue since at least August 13, but has yet to provide an estimate on when they might provide a fix.

We’ve contacted Google for comment and will update this post if we hear back.

Users Of Google Apps Accounts With Hangouts Disabled Can’t Sign In To Hangouts 4.0, Google Has Been Investigating For A Month [Android Police]

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