Learning Android Forensics — Second Edition by Oleg Skulkin, Donnie Tindall, Rohit Tamma
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Google Hangouts analysis
Hangouts is a chat/SMS application provided by Google. Hangouts is the default SMS client on Android devices.
Package name: com.google.android.talk
Files of interest:
- /cache/volleyCache/
- /databases/babel#.db (our device had babel0.db and babel1.db )
- /shared_prefs/accounts.xml
The cache directory contains .0 files, as discussed in the Google Maps example. The files contain a URL to fetch the profile pictures of contacts, as well as a JPG embedded within the file. Visiting the URL or carving the JPG from the file will recover the contact’s picture.
The babel#.db file contains all messaging data. On our test device, babel0.db was blank and babel1.db had all of the data for the active account. There are many tables .
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How to Use the Hangouts App for Android Phones
To sate your video chat desires, your Android phone comes with an app called Hangouts. It’s a communications app, designed by Google to let you connect with one or more of your friends for text and video chat.
- The Hangouts app might also serve as your phone’s text messaging app.
- The Hangouts app is a reincarnation of the old Google Talk app.
The Hangouts app might appear as a launcher icon on the Home screen; otherwise, you can dig it up in the apps drawer. If you don’t see it directly in the list of apps, look for it inside a Google folder. And if you still can’t find it, you can obtain the app free from the Google Play Store.
Hangouts hooks into your Google account. If you have any previous conversations, they’re listed on the main part of the screen. On the right side of the screen you see a specific conversation, although it just peeks in when the phone is held vertically.
The Hangouts app listens for incoming conversation requests, or you can start your own. You’re alerted via notification of an impending Hangout request. The notification icon is shown here.
- Conversations are archived in the Hangouts app. To peruse a previous text chat, choose it from the list. Part of the previous chat shows up on the right side of the screen.
- Text messages appear in the archive with the SMS flag.
- Video calls aren’t archived, but you can review when the call took place and with whom by choosing a video chat item.
- To remove a previous conversation, long-press it. Touch the Trash icon that appears on the contextual action bar atop the screen. You can also swipe a conversation left or right to remove it.
- To use Hangouts, your friends must have a Google account. They can be using a computer or mobile device; it doesn’t matter which. But they must have a camera available to enable video chat.
Hangouts for Android
This download is no longer available. This could be due to the program being discontinued, having a security issue or for some other reason.
You can download these alternatives:
Google Voice
Telephone service with voice transcription
POF Free Dating App
Meet interesting people
Hangouts Dialer
Application to Call Phones with the Google Hangouts Bundle
Google’s app for video chat and messaging
Google Hangouts is a free video chat and messaging app for iOS, Android, and your preferred desktop browser. You can join and host video conferences with up to ten contacts simultaneously, send messages to contacts (even if they’re offline), and enjoy a variety of stickers, GIFS, photo sharing, and emoji.
You can start up conversations and stay in touch without the hassle.
Smooth, synchronized chat from anywhere
Part of the mighty Google workspace, Hangouts is their go-to app for chatting, messaging, and taking part in video calls. The app works as an extension for most browsers and is 100% cross-platform compatible. That means that even if you’re using the program on your Android mobile device, you can still meet participants who are using Android, iOS, or desktop.
You can also use Hangouts to sync chats across all your devices. You can share photos and videos, look over your call history, and keep a record of any of your correspondences. Then, with a single tap, you can turn the conversation into a video call.
Group chats can comprise up to 150 people, all of whom can type messages, embed photos, emoji, stickers, and animated GIFs. You can engage in video calls with up to 10 friends. You can call any phone number in the world (calls to other Hangouts users are free) and optionally connect your Google Voice account for a phone number, SMS, and voicemail integration. You can even remotely manage the app through Google Cloud.
In 2016, Google upgraded Hangouts to 25 concurrent users in HD video for work and education. The new Google Hangouts app on iOS integrates a Google Voice number to some extent, but on Android, the SMS support in Hangouts doesn’t fully integrate with Google Voice for calls or texts. Integration was deprecated in January 2016.
In Android 4.4, Hangouts is integrated with the default SMS app on the Nexus 5. For other Android phones, users can choose to open the SMS function when they download the new version of Hangouts via Google Play. The update also adds GIF support and a new location-sharing button, which lets users send their GPS location to their contacts.
Hangouts can turn conversations into free voice calls to other Hangouts users and charges users to call landline and mobile phones internationally — except for calls to the United States and Canada; that’s free. Android users must have both the Google Hangouts and Hangouts Dialer apps installed if they wish to call landline or mobile telephone numbers via the public-switched telephone network.
Is Google Hangouts safe?
As with any Google product, the company’s privacy policy for Hangouts assures that your data is kept as safe as possible. This extends to your data not being sold to third parties, used, or transferred for purposes unrelated to Hangouts’ core functionality, or to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes. Still, Google is forward enough to specify the personal information it will be collecting:
Google will collect personally identifiable information such as the user’s name, location, email address, age, or identification number. Any authentication information like passwords, credentials, security question, or a PIN will be kept (as you probably expect), along with a record of personal communications (emails, text or chat messages, social media posts, or conference calls). This information being logged and kept is hardly a surprise, however; it’s intrinsic to the program.
Google Hangouts vs Zoom
Google Hangouts capitalizes on easy integration with the rest of the Google ecosystem, and a smooth, familiar UI that streamlines the process of getting online and connected either at home or on the go. There are other video conferencing and messaging apps on the market; however, namely Skype, WhatsApp, and Zoom.
Skype is a dinosaur of an app when compared to Hangouts. Though Hangouts is part of the age-old Google, Skype came out 10 years earlier. Many of the issues users had with Skype (resource-heavy, intrusive pop-ups, and jittery video) Google ironed out so as to provide a better option. WhatsApp, while accessible via a browser, does not have a standalone client on desktop.
The main competitor for Hangouts is Zoom, another downloadable desktop or mobile app that lets users chat and meet for free. Zoom can go from uninstalled to up and running in mere minutes. It boasts a clean UI, easy direct video, and a litany of customizable options for audio, accessibility, security, and more.
There are some key factors that will influence your decision of whether to use Zoom or Hangouts, primarily security, video quality, and, of course, whether you want Google integration. While integration with Google may be a plus, if you’re prone to issues with their ecosystem, Zoom is the better choice.
As far as security is concerned, Zoom does not require meeting attendants to create an account. The host can create the initial link, which is accessible by anyone with an internet browser. While this makes for convenient link sharing so that people can join the meeting, that means Zoom can’t guarantee end-to-end encryption in transit. By comparison, a Hangouts video call URL can also be created, but anyone joining through it will still need a Google account to enter.
Both Zoom and Hangouts support HD video quality, but not all HD is made the same. In most cases, Zoom has the upper hand with a 1080p max video resolution. Hangouts does fall somewhat behind at a stable 720p. While 720p is far from low-quality, Zoom remains the winner here. Zoom recommends a 3.8Mbps connection for its highest quality video offering. Hangouts requires 3.2Mbps (or 4Mbps for up to 10 participants).
Communication made free and simple
Google Hangouts is a comfortable app for video and chat that grants quick access to anyone you want to keep in contact with, across multiple platforms and on multiple devices. It may lack in complexity when compared to other programs, but the interface is easy to navigate, and the app performs well. It’s incorporation with the Google workspace makes it a convenient, top-notch choice for communication.
- Easy to use
- Synced to Google account
- Cross-platform communication
- Supports high definition video
Google Hangouts
Hangouts was announced at I/O 2013 and combined the company’s disparate messaging platforms into one unified product. It includes the text elements of Google Talk and Google+ Messenger/Huddle, as well as the video portion of Google+ Hangouts.
Hangouts allows for group conversations with two or more people and can be accessed through Android and iOS apps, as well as the web in Gmail or the dedicated Hangouts site. Users can send images, video, stickers, and location, in addition to having group video calls with multiple people.
Until recently, Hangouts was the default messaging app on Android and handled SMS text messages. However, Google began pushing users to the dedicated Messenger SMS app and is introducing a new messaging app called Allo to replace the messaging parts of Hangouts and Duo for video.
Despite the new apps, Google has noted that Hangouts will remain as the company’s messaging solution for corporate customers.
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