Google-hangouts – the single/alone URL for Hangouts chat

google-hangouts

I want to have the URL for Hangouts, in order to open it directly, similar to the one used for Google Contact.

That is, I don't want the Hangouts to be a popup to the G+ site. Is such thing available?

ps.

I wan to pin it on my taskbar as a shortcut to application – a feature of Chrome browser.

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Best Answer

Short Answer

http://hangouts.google.com

Explanation

When this answer was originally posted, there was not a Google Hangouts standalone app. It was launched in August 2015. On the first days, the 'hangouts.google.com' redirected to 'talkgadget.google.com' but nowadays the redirection was removed.

Other ways to access to Hangouts

Besides the standalone web app, it's possible to access Hangouts from the desktop without going to Gmail or Google+ web sites:

References

We are launching another way to use Hangouts today Google+ post from Jordanna Chord on August 17, 2015.
Hangouts services to be served from 'hangouts.google.com' - Google Apps update alerts.

Related Solutions

Google Hangouts – How to Remember Audio Settings

Try using the Chrome extension for Hangouts. I use this on 4 different machines and it always remembers the individual settings for each machine.

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Google-hangouts – Create direct link to Google Hangouts chat

As of April 2018, It actually is possible to create URL to link to a chat with a specific person. (But who knows when Google will break these given the ongoing incoherence of their messaging applications…)

First, you'll need to know that person's Gaia ID (an internal ID used by Google Hangouts and Google Plus)

If you're looking for your own Gaia ID, login to your Google account and visit https://plus.google.com/me. This will redirect to a URL of the form https://plus.google.com/1XXXXXXXXXX. The long number at the end of the URL is your Gaia ID. (If you don't have a Google Plus profile, it'll be an error page, but it'll still have the correct Gaia ID.)
If you're looking for someone else's Gaia ID, search for them on Google Plus. If you can find a URL of the form https://plus.google.com/u/0/1XXXXXXXXXXXX/... associated with their profile, you've got their Gaia ID.
If you use the reverse-engineered purple-hangouts library to use Hangouts in an instant messenger desktop client, then the "About" or "Info" box for a contact should show you their Gaia ID.

Anyway, once you've got someone's Gaia ID, it's pretty straightforward to create the correct URL to start a Hangout with them. Simply replace 1XXXXXXXXXXXX below with that user's Gaia ID:

https://hangouts.google.com/chat/person/1XXXXXXXXXXXX