The Hangouts API enables you to develop collaborative apps that run inside of a Google+ Hangout. You can write your app as either a Hangout application or extension.
Google+ provides a developer sandbox where you can test your app prior to making it public. The following steps show you how to quickly host, register and run a Simple Hangout App in the developer sandbox:
1. Download and host the Simple Hangout App
The Simple Hangout App is a quick way to get a demo hangout app up and running. It is one of our sample apps.
- Download the simpleHangoutApp.xml file to any directory on your local drive. (That's the only file you need from the zip file.)
- Host the XML file on a server so it is publicly available. The server should have no firewalls and require no login authentication to access this file.
The next steps show how to run this simple app in a hangout.
2. Create your project
Before you can use the Google+ Hangouts API, you need to create a project in the Google APIs Console as follows. No OAuth 2.0 is required for apps running in the developer sandbox.
- Go to the APIs Console
- Pull down the list at the top of the left menu, click Create, enter a project name (such as "Simple Hangout App"), and click the Create project button. A list of all Google web services appears.
- Scroll down to the Google+ Hangouts API, click ON and accept the terms of service.
3. Run the Simple Hangout App
- At the APIs Console, click on Hangouts in the left menu.
-
In the Application URL field, enter the actual URL to your XML file
(from step 1):
http://url-to-your-xml-file
If you skipped step 1 above, you can instead enter this URL where Google already hosts a public example XML file:
https://plushangoutstarter.appspot.com/static/simpleHangoutApp.xml
- Click Save.
- A link Enter a hangout! appears below the Save button. Click on this link to run the following Simple Hangout App.
-
Notice this app is running in the developer sandbox,
as indicated by the presence of a red "Developer Preview" banner.
For details about the new buttons that appear, see
Running your app
in developer sandbox.
- If you want to make this app public, follow the procedure at Publishing Apps.