Hangouts is getting more refined contact invitation settings
Heads-up: some new chat invitation settings are inbound to Hangouts. The change was detailed by a Googler who mentioned users will now be able to easily allow friends and family with your phone number or email address to contact you without needing to first invite them. You can also specify whether certain people will be able to send you an invitation at all.
The change is first rolling out on the web, though there’s no indication when it’ll arrive to mobile app versions. We imagine it’d be here whenever Hangouts version 4 launches, but considering Android users are still without that kit of software we’re completely left in the dark. All we can do is cross our fingers hope it’s sometime soon.