Update 1 (12/5/18 at 9:20 PM ET): Google has confirmed that Allo will be discontinued and that the focus on enterprise for Hangouts will continue. More details follow in the update at the end of the article. The original article follows.[/alert]
The saga of Google’s messaging apps continues. After the company announced Allo development had been “paused” back in April, a new report claims the app will be completely discontinued. Allo was paused as the company put more focus on Android Messages and the “Chat” RCS-based standard. This news comes just a few days after a report claimed Hangouts would also be on the chopping block.
This new Allo report comes from sources familiar with the situation at 9to5Google. They claim Allo will be shut down “soon,” but the announcement may have been delayed due to the previous report about Hangouts. Google could push back the announcement to avoid more bad press about killing apps, which is something the company gets a lot of flack for.
Allo was announced back at Google I/O 2016 and many were confused by the app from the start. No one expected Google to release yet another messaging app when they already had Hangouts. The app has slowly decayed over time. It hasn’t received a major update in almost one year and most of the Allo team has been moved to Android Messages.
There is some good news to glean from these apps being shut down. With Hangouts and Allo out of the way, Google may finally have a straightforward approach to messaging. Android Messages and Duo will be a two-pronged attack. Messages is getting all the fancy RCS-based Chat features, works on the web, and is already pre-loaded on many phones. Similarly, Duo is a dead simple video chatting app that comes pre-loaded on many devices.
We will continue to track the story of Allo and Hangouts’ future. One thing seems to be sure: if you use either of these apps, it’s time to switch to something else.
Update 1: Google Confirms Allo is Shutting Down
What’s happening to Allo
In a blog post that went live shortly after the original report, Google confirmed that Allo will no longer work after March of 2019. Users will be able to export their existing conversation history from the app before the service shuts down. Google states that many of Allo’s best features have made their way to Messages, and that they’ve decided to “stop supporting Allo to focus on Messages.”
Google Allo (Free, Google Play) →
What’s happening to Duo
Google Duo, the video calling counterpart to Allo, is sticking around. Today the company announced an easier way to send video messages to your contacts. The company promises they will continue to improve the service with features that utilize machine learning.
Google Duo - High Quality Video Calls (Free, Google Play) →
What’s happening to Hangouts
Hangouts Chat and Meet will continue to be supported for enterprise users, but Google states that these apps will “be made available for existing Hangouts [Classic] users, too.” We don’t know how these enterprise apps will change to accommodate regular users, but we’ll know more when the time comes for Google to kill off Hangouts Classic. We know that’s happening, we just don’t know when.
Enterprise Hangouts Chat users will eventually be able to include people from outside of their organization, and Hangouts Meet users can now organize meetings with up to 100 participants. These are just some of the new enterprise features coming for Google’s G Suite customers, with more to come in the future.
Hangouts Meet (Free, Google Play) →
Hangouts Chat (Free, Google Play) →
Update 2: RIP Allo
Say goodbye to Google Allo. Today is its last day before Google puts it down. Export your chat history while you still can. Instructions on how to do so can be found here.
Refference - xdadevelopers.com
![[Update 2: Last Day To Export Chat] Google Allo may be shutting down after development halted months ago](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O3EpVMWcoKw/WxY6-6I4--I/AAAAAAAAB2s/KzC0FqUQtkMdw7VzT6oOR_8vbZO6EJc-ACK4BGAYYCw/w100/nth.png)
0 Comments