
Google is “pausing investment” in Allo - bluefreeze
https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/19/17253308/google-allo-texting-paused-android-messages
======
komali2
>As part of that effort, Google says it’s “pausing” work on its most recent
entry into the messaging space, Allo. It’s the sort of “pause” that involves
transferring almost the entire team off the project and putting all its
resources into another app, Android Messages.

I won't even _try_ to fit the various SMS clients android phones have had into
my list, but as an android user since ~2010, here is what has been asked of me

1\. Use default SMS

2\. Nah, use samsung's

3\. Never mind, they all suck, just find one on the appstore

4\. Look, Google Voice (app)! And it works with your google voice number! Wifi
texting, neat! ~2011

5\. Never mind, stuff that, use Hangouts! Also works with your google voice
number! (but no mms!) ~2012

6\. Wait a second, here's a couple more SMS apps built into android. ~2013,
2014

7\. MMS yay!

8\. Never mind, dump hangouts, we updated google voice finally! ~2015?

9\. Here's two new chat apps, neither can text though! Good luck remembering
which is for which (2016)

10\. Fuck it, no more SMS on hangouts. 2017?

11\. Lol nah to Allo as well, we're gonna make another SMS app. Were you still
using google voice? <\--- we are here

~~~
arwineap
There used to be a message on my phone that hangouts was deprecated in favor
of messages for SMS. This message would pop up ever week or so after I
acknowledged it.

Fast forward a couple weeks, I decide to delete hangouts and soley use
"messages." Phone service stops working. I call google fi. Apparently Google
Fi depends on the hangouts app to be installed. I complained that I wanted to
use hangouts again because it grouped hangouts and SMS, reinstalled hangouts,
and everything starts working again.

The message about deprecating hangouts has NEVER showed up again, and I get to
use my phone as I wanted to in the first place. Hopefully my little piece of
happiness in hangouts doens't get bombed on soon by some eager project manager

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so33
This was sadly predictable. And according to the article, Google is making
another app, a service that will not only depend on Google, but on carrier
buy-in to a standard called "Rich Communication Services" as well.
([https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/19/17252486/google-
android-m...](https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/19/17252486/google-android-
messages-chat-rcs-anil-sabharwal-imessage-texting)) From the article:

> We can’t do it without these [carrier and OEM] partners. We don’t believe in
> taking the approach that Apple does. We are fundamentally an open ecosystem.

I think I heard the same spiel for Google Talk nearly a decade ago. Am I a
cynic for thinking Android Messages will suffer the same fate?

Also - I'm pleasantly surprised to learn that Duo (the video messaging app) is
fairly successful, according to Google's own metrics. I always did like
Hangouts video chat; it was good at what it did.

~~~
mathw
This is quite different, because Google Talk was a pure data thing, while RCS
is something the carriers are going to be keen on. They're particularly keen
to be able to sell RCS messaging access to businesses, lest those businesses
who are currently buying SMS for things like notifying you when your parcel
delivery is due or reminding you of your eye test appointment skip straight
over the carriers and start sending people WhatsApp or Facebook messages
instead.

It could all fall over, and Apple don't seem to be giving any hints about if
they'll be supporting it, but so far things are looking pretty promising for
this technology.

Disclaimer: I work for a company which is a Google partner developing business
RCS services for exactly this kind of use case.

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bootlooped
This is one product Google should kill, although it would be better if it had
just never been launched in the first place.

~~~
gcatalfamo
That and duo. I can’t find anybody using it. (I know I am being subjective,
but as a user this is my mileage and I have to use other apps)

~~~
eigenvector
I recently stumbled on a use for Duo - for elderly people that have not used
smartphones before, the interfaces of other apps like Skype, Hangouts, etc.
are overwhelming. Duo's simple. It does only one thing.

Good luck getting anyone who already has a preferred app to use it, though.

~~~
dingo_bat
FaceTime is even simpler to use. All my grandparents use it all the time.

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nikolay
Another proof that one should not rely on any service Google offers! What
happened to Inbox, and the dozens of other services, which show that Google
has a very poor product development! The amount of confusion and similar
offering is just beyond anyone's imagination! From Google Talk to Google Voice
to Hangouts to Hangouts on Air and now this got broken into Hangouts Chat and
Meet to Duo and Allo and now RCS - wow! And I won't mention Google Spaces,
Google Wave, and many others we don't even remember anymore! I'm not sure why
they need to fragment the communication space into so many products!

------
akandiah
I'm hesitant to rely any new Google services these days thanks to Google doing
this almost all the time.

~~~
sharcerer
I think it only applies to messaging. I don't like this new approach also. No
e2e is there. Plus it will take 2 years to give a good xp to a large set of
users. Already looks like a flop. By that time, peoplw will be more absorbed
into Whatsapp,iMessage. Whatsapp is already launching payment feature in
india. I like google products but this has been very disappointing.

~~~
dward
Allo supported e2e encryption in incognito mode.

[https://signal.org/blog/allo/](https://signal.org/blog/allo/)

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pasbesoin
The result of all this "wait, no, this!" change?

I don't use any Google IM product, at all, any more. (And at one point, post
AIM, they were my first choice.)

Buh bye

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jug
LOL @ "pause".

Would be quite the news to see "Google resuming investment in Allo" at this
point.

Google's relationship with IM's is becoming a farce at this point. If you want
to roll out an IM or chat service you/friends/company are to use and depend
on, just make sure Google is not "backing" it. They clearly don't know what
they are doing. I have lost track of their attempts. I wouldn't be surprised
if they have tried with six or so incompatible systems by now.

