Google Adds Peer-to-Peer Connections to Hangouts

Google is rolling out a new tweak for Google Hangouts that should make your calls to your friends sound a little bit better.

According to VentureBeat, Google is now allowing people to make peer-to-peer connections to one another. That's not the default setup for every Google Hangout you have with another person, but it's something the Hangout app will aim for when it can.

"To improve call quality and speed, Hangouts will route audio and video over a peer-to-peer connection when possible,"Google told VentureBeat.

Google also elaborates on the point of peer-to-peer connections in a new addition to its Hangouts help page in Google Support.

"To improve audio and video quality, Hangouts calls use a direct peer-to-peer connection when possible. This allows Hangouts to more efficiently route your call directly to the person you're talking to, rather than connecting the call through one of Google's servers," reads Google's description.

"Note: A direct peer-to-peer connection between you and the other person reveals both your IP addresses. With an IP address, it's possible to approximate your location."

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On the plus side, it's not as if a person's IP address is going to just pop up within the Google Hangout call. While that's not to say that a more industrious computer user couldn't probably figure it out, your average person isn't going to just see your IP address on display.

The new peer-to-peer functionality will work with any version of Google Hangouts—iOS, Android, and Web—as soon as Google finishes rolling out the required updates and you've updated your app to the latest version. Of course, the person you're calling will also need to have the latest version of Hangouts for peer-to-peer to work.