How to configure Pidgin as Hangouts client

Linux has no native Hangouts client

I use Ubuntu and Fedora on different machines, I also use (in some cases and as alternative to Telegram and Skype) Google Hangsouts to communicate with friends and for work.

Hangsout is available in many ways, also directly from the Gmail web page, but there are no clients for Linux.

I didn’t find a really native Hangouts client app for Linux. There are some apps, but no one is fully comfortable for me. I could use the web-browser way, but I’m an old school guy. So….

Pidgin with Google Hangouts

Use Pidgin to rule them all, Hangouts too

On my Linux machines, a really suitable solution is to use Pidgin and configure it as Hangouts client. Really easy to do that and the program works like a charm with Hangouts chats.

Solutions:

It depends on your distribution. First command is for Fedora, the second for Ubuntu. Install the Pidgin app:

   sudo dnf install pidgin

   sudo apt-get install pidgin

Open the Pidgin client, add an account and select the ‘XMPP’ Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol.
Put you username. It’s the first part of your Gmail email address:

user.name of user.name@gmail.com

Insert the domain:

gmail.com

Press ‘Save’ and connect.

Notes:

I use the two-factor authentication to sign in to my Google account, so I need an app-specific password to log in to Pidgin. Don’t work with my usual Gmail password. To do this, I must go to Google App Passwords and create a new password for the Pidgin app. If you don’t use two-factor authentication use your normal password.