Google shut down Allo (TheVerge: 5th December 2018).
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Allo was one of Google’s numerous attempts at creating an instant messaging app able to compete with the giants on the market – Apple’s iMessage and Facebook’s Messenger and WhatsApp.
Allo used phone numbers for identifying users and didn’t require emails or social media accounts. It introduced several additions to the world of messaging, such as Selfie Stickers, Smart Reply, and Google Assistant
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Google has been trying to find a foothold in the messaging market for years. Starting with Google Talk, going through Hangouts and its ever-growing text, voice, and video features, and finishing with newer apps like Allo, Google Duo, and Google Messenger – Google seems to have tried it all.
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When Allo came out in September 2016, things looked promising. The app used phone numbers as identifiers, which was good for users who needed a texting app that wasn’t connected to their social media or email.
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While Allo offered users many entertaining tools to enhance their messaging experience, it just wasn’t doing all that well in terms of numbers. The peak of downloads was the first 12 weeks after launch when it reached around 10 million downloads, and by the time Google decided to discontinue it, the app had had less than 50 million downloads.
That might seem like a lot, but it simply wasn’t enough compared to the more than a billion people using Facebook’s Messenger monthly or the 2 billion using WhatsApp.
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One recurring criticism of the service was that when Allo launched in 2016, it was available only on one device since it was connected to the user’s phone number. That didn’t help attract more users, and even though in 2017 Google added the option to have the app on one mobile device and use it on the web, it might have been a bit too late.
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Finally, the lack of SMS support was a big hindrance. People could use Hangouts to talk on the web and via SMS at the same time, so it was a legitimate question why people would prefer to switch to Allo.
Having this in mind, it’s not much of a surprise that Google decided to redirect time and resources elsewhere. In April 2018, Anil Sabharwal, the new head of Google’s communications group, announced that the tech giant was “pausing” the development of the Allo project and would be focusing on something called Android Messages and the new RCS standards and Chat.
In December 2018, Google announced Allo was to be officially discontinued in March 2019, and users were given the option to save their data beforehand.
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Source: https://www.failory.com/google/allo
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