While we are used to Google announcing with blazing guns all its updates, upgrades and innovations, it seems that the new Google Hangouts sketching tool was released a few days ago without any fuss.

However, we found some reliable sources telling us about the new option you have when using Google Hangouts and it looks like something fun. So far, this new tool is available only for the Web version, but reporters have tried it and told us how it works.

According to the tipsters and kind reporters from Android Police,

Some users are reporting that Hangouts can now sketch a message, drawing with a variety of brush widths and colors on a little scratchpad, which is sent to the user on the other end of the conversation as an image. To sketch, users need only hover over the camera icon, click on the pencil icon that appears, then draw away.

There is also a bonus to all this: you can insert a photo in the Google Hangouts and add annotations to it or even a drawing. It looks like a version of the old Microsoft Paint that allows you to draw over your creation again and over the drawings sent by your chat friends. You have to be a Google+ member to use the Google Hangouts sketching tool, but we guess by now few people aren’t.

Is this tool really useful? Is it just a fun way to enrich your Google Hangouts experience or is it completely useless? The opinions are not truly conflicting, but the general idea is that the tool has a humorous side to it. Of course, it can be useful in some contexts.

You know, if you want to give directions to people, you just can insert a picture of your neighborhood and draw the destination point on it, so they find your place easier. For instance. Adding annotations to a photo or just drawing over it can be useful in a lot of situations. However, it is more about testing your artistic skills and trying to come up with your own smiley faces and emojis while you’re communicating with your chat buddies.

If you want to try to see how it works, go check your Google Hangouts. If you are surprised to find out you don’t benefit from this feature, try the next steps:

Right-click the icon on Chrome and choose Remove. You can reinstall Hangouts from the Chrome Web Store.

After you reinstall the Hangouts, you will see a pencil icon that lets you use the Google Hangouts sketching tool. If you succeed and manage to send your friends some beautiful creations, let us know! We are really curious if you find the tool useful.