Why doesn't Allo do .... (insert stuff)

[Aquila]

Why doesn't Allo act as my primary SMS sender/receiver? Why isn't it iMessage? Why didn't they add Assistant to Hangouts? Why does Google hate its users?

1. It's not intended to compete with iMessage. It's clearly targeting the WhatsApp crowd. So if it's good at what it is but not good at what you wish it was...
2. It's super obviously a 1.0 product and as a 1.0 product, it's not now what it will be in the future. It also contains Google Assistant Preview - which will launch with its intended products in around a month.
3. Hopefully everyone still remembers how rough and not like Inbox gmail was when it launched, how much Google Talk was not Hangouts when it launched - heck, even Hangouts wasn't Hangouts when it launched. It had stuff added over the years to get to where it is. And until around a month or so ago, everyone hated Hangouts.
4. I've been trying to think of one, but I don't believe any software company has ever launched anything that was "done". It's definitely never happened in any game I've purchased or in any operating system that I've used. There are always patches that add functionality, fix bugs, add polish, etc. Some apps may have released and never updated, but those are likely some terrible apps to begin with. Products evolve.
5. There are things that Allo did during the testing period that it does not do in 1.0. There's no way of knowing which, if any of those features will be reintroduced, but obviously they are things that are on radar. Some of these include a totally different SMS implementation (that may be intended for only Pixel devices, not sure), a button to switch seamlessly between Allo and Duo and tablet support (phone number still required).

 

[Golfdriver97]

any software company has ever launched anything that was "done"

cough...Windows8...cough

 

[TruPlaya187]

Why doesn't Allo act as my primary SMS sender/receiver? Why isn't it iMessage? Why didn't they add Assistant to Hangouts? Why does Google hate its users?

1. It's not intended to compete with iMessage. It's clearly targeting the WhatsApp crowd. So if it's good at what it is but not good at what you wish it was...
2. It's super obviously a 1.0 product and as a 1.0 product, it's not now what it will be in the future. It also contains Google Assistant Preview - which will launch with its intended products in around a month.
3. Hopefully everyone still remembers how rough and not like Inbox gmail was when it launched, how much Google Talk was not Hangouts when it launched - heck, even Hangouts wasn't Hangouts when it launched. It had stuff added over the years to get to where it is. And until around a month or so ago, everyone hated Hangouts.
4. I've been trying to think of one, but I don't believe any software company has ever launched anything that was "done". It's definitely never happened in any game I've purchased or in any operating system that I've used. There are always patches that add functionality, fix bugs, add polish, etc. Some apps may have released and never updated, but those are likely some terrible apps to begin with. Products evolve.
5. There are things that Allo did during the testing period that it does not do in 1.0. There's no way of knowing which, if any of those features will be reintroduced, but obviously they are things that are on radar. Some of these include a totally different SMS implementation (that may be intended for only Pixel devices, not sure), a button to switch seamlessly between Allo and Duo and tablet support (phone number still required).

Thanks for taking the time to write some good information, your point of view, the logic behind it...etc

Hopefully you are right about more features will come along but honestly I hope that it doesn't take too long to bring out some features. I know that some people will say that SMS is not needed but so far on my side of things, it would help a lot if it did.

I've sent some invites to people and they called me saying that I spammed them or didn't know what it was at all. Add to explain to them and yet they basically said: ah no not another chat app...but that's because they didn't see it yet. Now if Allo would have SMS built-in and set as a default SMS app on Android phones, basically all those would use Allo as it meant to be with Google Assistant and all that while at the same time being their SMS app. Also, from another stand point between iOS and Android. I am using an Android device but a lot of my friends are using iPhones. Now if Allo would act as my primary SMS app and for example my friend and I are texting to know what to do this weekend, on my side I would have the full Allo app with Google Assistant and all of that so I could still ask Google about locations, restaurants, bars..etc and see the result on my end. Since the iPhone friend would not have the Allo app yet, just iMessage he would not see of all this at all. But on my side I could still send a link with a bar that I found to him as a text message. Now when the time comes, we are out and chilling but then I show him what I was seeing the all time of the conversation and also all the neat and cool features...I would tell him. Hey Allo is available for iOS and you too could see and do all of this if you had it install, I think that it would make a huge difference!!


Let me know what you think about it and thanks again for writing your posts here!

 

[Aquila]

If Google's goal is to have Allo be the only app used by the majority of Americans, then SMS is required. So are a few other things. I'm not sure that's their goal, but if it is, they know that's going to be a requirement.

 

[TruPlaya187]

Thanks! Also just saw a conversation on Twitter between a guy and Justin Uberti and the conversation was about SMS for Allo. At one point the guy wrote : What about Facebook Messenger? IM, SMS, video and voice.

Justin Uberti replied : was SMS a v1 feature of Messenger? That is the fundamental question.

So like you said, I guess that they will incorporate SMS within Allo at one point but it would of been nice to have from the start...yeah I know we want everything every time all the time

 

[jcdub]

The ability to select multiple messages to delete at once, like WhatsApp a world be nice. And do the same to messenger while you're are it

 

[ljbad4life]

Thoughts on Allo and Google take on it's latest take on messenger:

Allo is not competing with anything at all. Allo launched with less features and a small user base.
1: whatsapp has a desktop client and multi device support
2: Whatsapp installed user base is in the Millions
3:facebook messenger has intergrated sms/mms support
4:facebook messenger installed user base in the millions

Where does that leave Allo:
It leaves Allo in a tough spot where many people will install it, be disappointed with app, become disenfranchised, then uninstall the app. Most will never install it again. It will hurt Allo far into the future.

Now to the brutual truth:

Allo is not a version 1.0 launch, stop cutting google slack where it is not needed. The truth is this is Google's 5th messaging app. If they can't figure out how to incorporate the positives from previous launches and platforms, then Google is not learning and building a better platform, it's just doing random things and it's tiring to the market. People are fatigued from jumping from one messaging service to another. Hangouts, sms, skype, duo, facebook messenger, whatsapp, snap chat, twitter etc. How many more apps does a person need? All of those apps are walled gardens, who needs another walled garden just because it has an assistant (which my techie side loves)?

Now with negative publicity with privacy concern and snowden public stating don't use it, Google is going to have a rough couple of months ahead of it. Personally i use(d) Allo and I convinced one person to download it. I liked it and I am not using it anymore. Why you may ask because the one person I convinced to get it saw the snowden article and won't use it anymore. Allo lasted all of 24hrs in my messaging rotation and from someone who enjoyed it.

Allo should have launch to parity with its direct competitors, not stripped down to narrowly focused. The other messaging apps are broadening features while google is trying to strip down. Duo on the other hand is near perfection. I guess you win some, you lose some.

 

[Aquila]

Thoughts on Allo and Google take on it's latest take on messenger:

Allo is not competing with anything at all. Allo launched with less features and a small user base.
1: whatsapp has a desktop client and multi device support
2: Whatsapp installed user base is in the Millions
3:facebook messenger has intergrated sms/mms support
4:facebook messenger installed user base in the millions

Where does that leave Allo:
It leaves Allo in a tough spot where many people will install it, be disappointed with app, become disenfranchised, then uninstall the app. Most will never install it again. It will hurt Allo far into the future.

Now to the brutual truth:

Allo is not a version 1.0 launch, stop cutting google slack where it is not needed. The truth is this is Google's 5th messaging app. If they can't figure out how to incorporate the positives from previous launches and platforms, then Google is not learning and building a better platform, it's just doing random things and it's tiring to the market. People are fatigued from jumping from one messaging service to another. Hangouts, sms, skype, duo, facebook messenger, whatsapp, snap chat, twitter etc. How many more apps does a person need? All of those apps are walled gardens, who needs another walled garden just because it has an assistant (which my techie side loves)?

Now with negative publicity with privacy concern and snowden public stating don't use it, Google is going to have a rough couple of months ahead of it. Personally i use(d) Allo and I convinced one person to download it. I liked it and I am not using it anymore. Why you may ask because the one person I convinced to get it saw the snowden article and won't use it anymore. Allo lasted all of 24hrs in my messaging rotation and from someone who enjoyed it.

Allo should have launch to parity with its direct competitors, not stripped down to narrowly focused. The other messaging apps are broadening features while google is trying to strip down. Duo on the other hand is near perfection. I guess you win some, you lose some.

Agree with most points except Snowden and user base.

He misquoted a verge article and was, intentionally IMO, spreading FUD. That's sort of his niche now. Incognito chats do still support E2E, but chats are not incognito by default. Snowden is rather famous for being out of the loop on both technology and intelligence over the last couple of years, so hopefully most of the public is smart enough to take his current positions with a grain of salt. Yes, Assistant uses data to power its functionality. No, that data never makes it into the hands of anyone unless that specific data is requested by warrant and Google agrees to comply with it. That's the same or better position as every chat or text app out there that im aware of. I'm curious what specific app he would recommend using for those that are interested in maximum privacy?

On the user base, both apps mentioned started with very small numbers and grew over time. Even FB messenger started with a couple hundred testers and then grew huge when FB removed messenger functionality from their mobile apps and directed people to install it. They both also launched with minimal functionality and evolved over time. That's exactly what I'm talking about, 1.0 versions are always lesser than their more fully evolved future selves.

 

[Aquila]

TLDR version of the above: Snowden was spreading wrong information and while I would love more features at launch, the two referenced competitors were both 1.0 some time ago and have evolved since then.

 

[ljbad4life]

TLDR version of the above: Snowden was spreading wrong information and while I would love more features at launch, the two referenced competitors were both 1.0 some time ago and have evolved since then.

Allo isn't competing with those apps in 2010, they are competing with them in 2016. Allo is not feature parity which would get people to try it and the experience keeps users. Tech isn't a bubble like that. You don't launch a product to compete with something 5 years ago, when that product has become better. You launch a product to compete now. If a multi billion dollar company can't figure that out, that means there is a huge problem with culture and talent retention (which there is at Google).

Duo succeeds at this. There is no simple video chat service (expect wire) that works on iOS and Android with one button calling and fantastic video quality. Skype is bloated and terrible quality, Hangouts is a bit more complicated for video calls and the quality suffers a bit. Add in Knock Knock and Duo is a great stand alone product.

If google treated Duo like Allo then you would get a Video chat app that doesn't have audio and the excuse would be well it's a 1.0 product right

 

[Aquila]

Allo isn't competing with those apps in 2010, they are competing with them in 2016. Allo is not feature parity which would get people to try it and the experience keeps users. Tech isn't a bubble like that. You don't launch a product to compete with something 5 years ago, when that product has become better. You launch a product to compete now. If a multi billion dollar company can't figure that out, that means there is a huge problem with culture and talent retention (which there is at Google).

Duo succeeds at this. There is no simple video chat service (expect wire) that works on iOS and Android with one button calling and fantastic video quality. Skype is bloated and terrible quality, Hangouts is a bit more complicated for video calls and the quality suffers a bit. Add in Knock Knock and Duo is a great stand alone product.

If google treated Duo like Allo then you would get a Video chat app that doesn't have audio and the excuse would be well it's a 1.0 product right

I agree fully that it doesn't have the feature set now and thus there is very little incentive for anyone to switch today. I disagree that anyone has ever launched a "complete" product, though I agree Duo is much more polished than most apps. The product we're using now isn't the product that it will be and I'm inclined to believe that the product will get better. Will it be too late? Maybe.

I tested both Allo and Duo for almost two months and Duo released a version much more in line with the original test version, which just means that it may have been a more simple concept overall. Duo and Allo both have less features in them now than when first released during the test, which is one reason I think that some of those features may be coming back once more efficient implementations are completed. Duo has also had 3 or 4 updates since being released in the Play Store, so when I say it was "incomplete", I mean that they're all going to be works in progress.

 

[Kjthomas0724]

I agree fully that it doesn't have the feature set now and thus there is very little incentive for anyone to switch today. I disagree that anyone has ever launched a "complete" product, though I agree Duo is much more polished than most apps. The product we're using now isn't the product that it will be and I'm inclined to believe that the product will get better. Will it be too late? Maybe.

I tested both Allo and Duo for almost two months and Duo released a version much more in line with the original test version, which just means that it may have been a more simple concept overall. Duo and Allo both have less features in them now than when first released during the test, which is one reason I think that some of those features may be coming back once more efficient implementations are completed. Duo has also had 3 or 4 updates since being released in the Play Store, so when I say it was "incomplete", I mean that they're all going to be works in progress.

Whar features is Allo missing now that was in the testing release?

 

[Aquila]

Examples are SMS worked differently and there was a button to go from a chat to Duo for a video call.

 

[Kjthomas0724]

Examples are SMS worked differently and there was a button to go from a chat to Duo for a video call.

That would be nice. Hopefully those features come back.

 

[Clocks]

My response to all of those justifications is.... So what?

It's not like we're desperate for a new communication app. Several have more than a billion users. Until Allo catches up on features, and hits a critical mass of users, it 1) may as well not exist, 2) is at risk of getting dumped by Google

 

[Kjthomas0724]

Examples are SMS worked differently and there was a button to go from a chat to Duo for a video call.

How did u become a tester for Allo?

 

[Aquila]

My response to all of those justifications is.... So what?

It's not like we're desperate for a new communication app. Several have more than a billion users. Until Allo catches up on features, and hits a critical mass of users, it 1) may as well not exist, 2) is at risk of getting dumped by Google

Not trying to justify anything, giving context because a lot of the comments I've seen here and elsewhere are complaints based on things it was never intended to do. I agree fully that Allo is COMPLETELY irrelevant right now, especially in the US market because it doesn't have the features and users necessary to make it gain momentum.

Edit to add that while being irrelevant, it's also a little fun to have more people to use it with now.

 

[Aquila]

How did u become a tester for Allo?

I've tested several apps over the last couple of years and in July they sent out a rather generic call to testers to see who wanted to work on Allo and Duo. Usually we get apps we've never heard of, but this time it was after they'd been previewed at IO so it was much more in demand. I started my testing journey being referred by a friend, but the normal way for those that aren't currently Google employees is through this link https://www.google.com/usability/index.html. MOST of the participation selections generated on that site are surveys, studies, etc. So a lot of the invitations are to do web calls and such with software and hardware testing opportunities being more rare. But once you've tested a hardware or software product and provided good feedback and kept up your agreement not to leak anything and everything, it's much easier to be called upon to test more and more apps.

 

[Kjthomas0724]

I've tested several apps over the last couple of years and in July they sent out a rather generic call to testers to see who wanted to work on Allo and Duo. Usually we get apps we've never heard of, but this time it was after they'd been previewed at IO so it was much more in demand. I started my testing journey being referred by a friend, but the normal way for those that aren't currently Google employees is through this link https://www.google.com/usability/index.html. MOST of the participation selections generated on that site are surveys, studies, etc. So a lot of the invitations are to do web calls and such with software and hardware testing opportunities being more rare. But once you've tested a hardware or software product and provided good feedback and kept up your agreement not to leak anything and everything, it's much easier to be called upon to test more and more apps.

Thanks. Just signed up