Why does Hangouts compress picture quality?

[AC Question]

My 5x has a great camera. Often, I like to share my photos with friends and family. However, when I send photos via text over Hangouts, the pic quality is reduced so drastically, it renders my camera virtually useless. My friends on iphones send crisp, clear photos to me. Why can't I do the same? Is there any fix in the future?

 

[anon(782252)]

Hi and Welcome to AC!

Seems to definitely be a lingering issue with Hangouts.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/general-news-discussion/574979-hangouts-photo-quality.html

Personally, I've switched most of my friends away from text messaging and use chats instead (Hangouts, WhatsApp, etc).

For pictures that I really want to share and allow the other person to have a great picture at full resolution, I send them a link to my OneDrive.

Of course those things aren't convenient for everyone.

Have you tried a different texting app to see if it works better?