I recently updated from google-talk to google-hangout. In Hangouts there is no way to set the availability status (available, idle etc.), but my friends (that are still using Google Talk) claim that I’m always idle, even if I’m sure I’m active in Hangouts. Is there a way to set in Hangouts how I should be seen for Google Talk users?
There is no way to see presence in Google Hangout—Google intentionally reworked it so presence is removed.
Google says it's put a lot of thought into reconsidering presence, and it actually works better in Hangouts than on other apps. ... The flip side of this new system is that you lose the more traditional "Active / Away" presence indicators that Google Talk users have grown accustomed to.
You have two choices:
- Roll-back your devices to Google Talk and wait till Hangout is fixed by Google for this problem (most probably never—Google is known to ignore human needs for their own perception what is right).
- Adapt to Hangout (surrender to Google's model).
The assumption is that you're always online. This is why they show you to your Google Talk friends as idle.
