By Angela Moscaritolo

Google on Thursday released a new version of its Google+ for Android app with a new user interface, and access to its Hangout video chat feature.

The new Android app (version 2.6) includes several new "highly requested" features, including the ability to start a Hangout directly from your phone, Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of Google's social business, wrote in a blog post Thursday. Previously, you could only join a Hangout that was already in progress, and could not start one from your phone without a separate app.

The update brings the Android app up to speed with its iOS counterpart, which Google revamped two weeks ago. The latest version of Google+ for Android offers a new slide-out navigation bar that makes it easier to switch between various sections of the app, instead of having to constantly go back to the home screen. The stream was also revamped with full-screen photos and easier access to the "+1" button.

You can also download photos directly from the app, and use them as your phone's wallpaper. And, if you make a mistake in a post, you can now edit it in the app. Before, you had to either delete the post altogether, or edit it from a desktop.

The update is now available for download from Google Play.

Google earlier this month updated its Google+ for iOS app offering up the new interface, full-bleed photos and videos, crisper fonts, larger profile photos, and a more intuitive home screen.

And Google last month updated the Web version of Google+, making its social network "more functional and flexible," as well as "simpler, [and] more beautiful." The update touched on navigation, conversations, and Hangouts.

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