Sounds like this will be through the contact list & their phone number vs a separate Hangouts app

The benefit is cross platform. If you have an iPhone and your friend has an Android, you can use this where you can't use FaceTime

Well it will be cross platform so if you know people who use Android, you'll be able to video call them too. Facetime requires 2 Apple devices

The difference is this will be cross platform. Facetime only works with Apple devices. Some people actually have friends & family (or meet new people) that use Android. The article says the app will be available on ios & Android so you can use it to easily video call anyone regardless of what smartphone they have. I'm…