Sketch with Friends Using Google Hangouts on the Web

In a move that harkens back to the good old days of AOL Instant Messenger, Google has recently snuck a new feature into its Hangouts service.

Apparently dubbed "Sketch a message!", this feature allows you to draw a picture that you can send to your friends over the online messaging service. Combined with the recent addition of "Stickers", Google seems to be looking to add a bit of personal flair to its popular messaging platform.

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To access this new feature from the web version or the Chrome plugin, simply hover over the Camera icon with your mouse pointer. This will expose a Pencil-shaped icon that allows you to begin drawing.

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Both parties will see the picture, but so far the ability to draw has not made it into the mobile version. As long as you're on your PC, you can also edit a sent sketch by hovering over it and clicking the pencil icon.

This feature has begun to make its way out to all Hangouts users through a silent update, so have a look at yours to see if "Sketch a Picture!" is already an option.