Every bit of screen real estate counts
With the demise of Google Hangouts slowly unfolding before us, Google has been steadily focusing more of its attention on its successor app, Google Chat. Even though not everyone has been happy with the forced migration, Google continues to make changes, both big and small. This latest change is definitely on the small side as chat updates its bottom interface bar.
If you use Google Chat on your smartphone you might have noticed a new user interface at the bottom of your screen. Some devices are showing a slightly changed bottom bar (spotted by @Mishaal Rahman on Twitter) reminiscent of the web version of the app.
The previous bottom bar (above, left) had its shortcuts front and center, just below the chat input box. The new bar (center) hides most of those extras behind a “+” button, the exception being the oft-used images shortcut. This isn’t a major change but it does free up a bit of screen space for the chat log.
This change is implemented in the latest version of Google Chat (2021.10.31.408397499) but it seems to be an A/B test because some phones (mine included) have yet to see any changes.
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