Missed my window to edit parent, but the iPhone client finally got an iOS 7 update today, alongside the new version of hangouts. Maybe I won't write it off yet after all. Yay!
EDIT: New version is designed for tall screens, and does not hold up well on the 4S and earlier.
The keyboard and input box are basically a fixed size, and then out of the leftover space they've used more than 2/3s to tell me who I'm talking to (twice). The remaining little stripe has enough room to display a single line text, or two if you don't mind the name/time getting chopped off.
EDIT: New version is designed for tall screens, and does not hold up well on the 4S and earlier.
http://i.imgur.com/l3heAjJ.png
The keyboard and input box are basically a fixed size, and then out of the leftover space they've used more than 2/3s to tell me who I'm talking to (twice). The remaining little stripe has enough room to display a single line text, or two if you don't mind the name/time getting chopped off.