(2018-12-08) Googles Messaging App Strategy Is Still A Mess

Google's messaging app strategy is still a mess. The company is focusing on Android Messages, an app that uses a communications protocol called RCS.

RCS requires OEM and carrier support to work, however. If anyone is missing a piece of this elaborate technological puzzle, the app defaults to bog-standard SMS.

The slow uptake isn't entirely Google's fault. But with Google Allo on the verge of extinction, the company is giving me two, frankly rubbish options: SMS, or an aging Hangouts app that will eventually be subsumed into some clearly enterprise, education and government-focused products. Yeah, no thanks.

The problem, I think, is threefold.

For one, people are entrenched in their favorite messaging apps. In the UK, for instance, Whatsapp reigns supreme.

Secondly, Allo doesn't have a truly unique and groundbreaking feature to tempt people with

Another problem is visibility. I can't recall a single magazine or billboard ad that revolved around Allo.

So what is Google doing now?

Google is killing Allo, its smart messaging app, for good.

The so-called "classic" version of Google Hangouts, meanwhile, is slowly being sunset too. In a convoluted Twitter exchange, Scott Johnston, the head of Hangouts and Google Voice, explained to Stephen Hall, a 9to5Google reporter, that Hangouts users will eventually be upgraded to Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet, a Slack-like competitor and video chat service aimed at businesses and other GSuite customers.

In 2016, however, the company managed to simplify its offerings with two services, Allo and Google Duo, designed for messaging and video chat calls respectively.