Discover the hidden emoticons of Google Hangouts

Hangouts

Google usually includes hidden functions in some of its services. For example, the Google Chrome browser has a game of a dinosaur that is only activated when there is no Internet connection and Android shows an animation if we click many times in a row on the system version in the settings section of our mobile or tablet. Those in Mountain View have also included quite a few surprises in Hangouts, the messaging service that replaced Google Talk a while ago. Google chat has agood variety of emoticons, but also comes with others that are hidden and are only activated by typing certain keywords and commands. We tell you which are the hidden emoticons of Hangouts and how to get to see them.

Hangouts hidden emoticons

As we said, there are certain keywords that activate special emoticons. Instead of appearing like normal smileys, they are animations that appear above the window . When we congratulate a friend on a birthday, a gift, a cake or the classic fox icon may appear. The keywords in this case are "happy birthday" or "congratulations".

Hangouts hidden emoticons

Hangouts also shows us animated icons when we laugh. If we write "hahahaha", "hehehehe" or "xD" a smiley will appear at the bottom of the screen. There are several combinations available, so they may also appear when you type different words.

Hangouts hidden emoticons

There are also icons to show joy or exclamation by typing words like "Yay !!" or "Woohooo". However, they are expressions that are used in English, in Spanish we have only managed to activate it with "olé" , but surely researching there are more keywords that activate it.

Hangouts hidden emoticons

In addition to keywords, Hangouts also supports commands, that is, words that are written with a forward slash. In this case the text will not appear in the window, but the icons will appear. / pony shows a pony crossing the screen, while / ponystream will activate a constant flow of ponies crossing our chat window - to stop it you have to retype the same command There is another option that shows a group of people running with torches and it is activated by typing / pitchforks.

Hangouts hidden emoticons

The / shydino command makes a small dinosaur appear that will stay at the bottom of the window until we retype the command to hide it. Finally, the / bikeshed option will change the window color for all members of the chat. The color that appears is random and to return to the light background of the beginning it is necessary to close the window and reopen it.

All icons work on both computer and mobile , except for the dinosaur and the color change of the window, which will only be seen if we are connected from the computer. In addition, it is necessary to have the latest version of Hangouts installed to be able to see the hidden emoticons on mobile. As we said, Google usually offers some "gifts" in some of its applications, although they do not advertise them too much, but leave them hidden for users to discover for themselves. There may be more options available in Hangouts. If you have found an icon, do not hesitate to tell it in the comments section below these lines.