Google Allo to be Shut Down Soon
Another one of Google’s messaging apps, Google Allo, is set to shut down soon according to sources from 9to5google.com. The app was first released in September of 2016 and received its last update in January 2018, which was nearly a year ago.
Google released Allo hoping to gain more traction than they actually did, but they never reached their expected audience.
The app was intended to be a messaging app like the rest of the well-known messaging apps, except it had some extra features: an integrated Google Assistant, drawing over images before sending, and machine learning to suggest replies. Another key difference Allo had with other messaging apps is that it was tied to your phone number as a way to identify you. It also had Google Assistant built right in so you could chat directly with it or add it in a group chat. This was what the feature they were there most proud of. Unfortunately, it didn’t support all the abilities Google Assistant offers, such as controlling smart home devices.
I haven’t seen advertising or heard any recommendations from other tech people or other messenger app users for Allo, so seeing this in my news feed was no surprise whatsoever. When Allo was first announced, I had my hopes up that this would be a replacement for Whatsapp or Viber. However, no one that I knew used it, except those who I invited, and they never used it after the first couple of weeks. I even forgot the app existed most of the time.
While this rumor is being heavily spread, there has been no official statement by Google at this time. Hopefully Google will instead focus more on Hangouts or just merge all their messaging apps into one.
Update [12/8/2018]:Â Google just release an update to Allo. It allows users to export their chats:
We’ll stop supporting Allo in March 2019, Update your app so you can export your chats. – Play Store
Source: 9to5Google.com
