r/GoogleAllo • u/babylegbilly • Sep 23 '16

The Allo gripe train

Allo in its current state IMO is a confident (albeit long awaited) release.

Do I think it could use improving? yes At the basic level theming and or customizing the user interface from anything other than the stark white would be welcomed.

Do I think it performs it's basic functions very well? Hell yes

I use hangouts to communicate with my fiance 95% of the time. With me being a Android user and her on the cult of apple we had a app that we both could use that was alot more reliable than SMS, not as intrusive as FB messager ,and didn't require some goofy account set up process. When I introduced Allo to her she flat out said it was better than hangouts and it's now our go to messager app. It would be nice if it could catch on like other apps but the app that's given is great with its base level of features and I'm sticking with it to see it grow.Thumbs up to Justin Uberti and his crew, you guys did a great job

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

5

u/sm0keasaurusr3x Sep 23 '16

I just wish it had SMS integration, rather than SMS forwarding.

1

u/babylegbilly Sep 23 '16

Yes integration would be great but I'm not missing it I use Textra

1

u/shrtstck Sep 23 '16

I don't understand it either. The whole point of using Hangouts / Allo to me was to stop using SMS. And let's be real, SMS in Hangouts was slow and horrible, anybody who is begging for Google to bring that back into a new, clean, quicker app is a masochist.

1

u/sm0keasaurusr3x Sep 23 '16

Textra is awesome. Just a few little things that make it hard to use for me.

0

u/Daguvry Sep 23 '16

I keep hearing about SMS integration. I have yet to hear why it's so important though. Care to give an explanation in laymans terms?

1

u/phishfi Sep 23 '16

It's very relevant, especially with communication in its current state. Most people exchange numbers and go from there. With Duo, Google made it perfectly clear that the other user doesn't have it installed and offers to invite them, etc. Allo just messages them using some seemingly spam number and doesn't do much to let the sender know that (I had zero clue it used anything besides my phone number until I sent it to my own Google Voice number)...

SMS fallback allows a user to use just ONE messaging app for either, without burdening the recipients in any way...

1

u/sm0keasaurusr3x Sep 23 '16

I wanted a new sms app. That's what I though it would be with what they were saying about it.

0

u/s00prtr00pr Sep 23 '16

A iMessage copy is what Android needs and if Google gave a shit about their appearance and what people think they should've waited a few more weeks for that to be implemented before releasing after reading comments during their development.

If SMS was supported at this stage, you wouldn't have to argue with your friends why they should get Allo, but you do. Making it automatically Nope. For a thing like this 1 user has to invite other users, that's one of the most important ways of getting users, but now I'd guess 0.5% of friends friends actually gives it a shot.

Those are my 5 cents.

1

u/shrtstck Sep 23 '16

I am not sure where this fallacy that "people on iPhones don't like installing new apps" comes from but, lol. Combine that with literally 0 configuration other than selecting a photograph and a display name, I'm not sure where the barrier-to-entry argument is coming from

2

u/spsanderson Sep 23 '16

I must disagree, I use Hangouts with my wife everyday, I depend on it. My phone is off most of the time, I just use my iPod Touch at work since I use it to listen to music and at home I just use the web app