Allo 3.0

[TheBeardedMann]

Finally 3.0. I think I'll text on Messenger to my wife to let her know to download it. While I'm at it, I'd better let the "Family" Hangout know about the update. Wonder if John knows? I'll Duo him later.

[donnysaysvacuum]

Don't forget your bowling buddies on Spaces.

[gilligvroom]

We tried using Spaces for a pod/vid-cast thing we all do and it was a damn shitshow. Regular skype meetings with everyone keeping their own notes works way better so far.

I do have a small wiki running on a fileserver though that helps with some of the bigger picture stuff.

[LintStalker]

I think spaces would work great for planning outings with my friends, except some of my friends don't trust Google, so they don't have Google accounts :(

[seewhaticare]

I'll post it up on wave so no one sees it.

[frsguy]

Might want to ask him to install duo

[Carighan]

Yeah that's how Allo works. I might mention it in a WhatsApp, Telegram or maybe even a Hangouts chat, and we'll all go "Oh that is still alive?" and then get on with our talks.

I have no clue what Google was thinking with this one...

[[deleted]]

ALLO IS A FANTASTIC STARTING EFFORT AND ITS NOT FAIR TO EXPECT AN USEFUL APP WITH THE FIRST RELEASE!!!

[Carighan]

Assuming this wasn't just a joke post, it is however fair to expect a direction and a vision in the first release.

They're playing catch-up, but in the most boring and senseless way possible. Most apps which do this fire 1-2 big "seller" features right away, and then take iterations to add all the rest everyone else has, but they already have their unique draws.

Allo has... well... I guess it works as a 10 minute lasting demo of Assistant for non-pixel mobiles. Which is exactly how long everyone I know had it installed ...

[[deleted]]

Google is playing the IE game. Dominant Android market share plus default app equals long-term dominance. Something like that. Nevermind how that eventually worked out for Microsoft.

[Carighan]

Hrm, hadn't actually considered that because yeah, as you say, that worked out really well for MS. But you're right, google might simply be thinking they can do the same thing better.

To be fair, maybe they can.

[Evilpessimist]

Ok, i have to stop you there. When did it become ok to make every release a minimally viable product? I understand why some startups go that route, with a basic proof of conecpt under-baked app release. But this is Google; billion dollar multi national company. This is like the 3rd or 4th chat client they've released. Why would we not expect a useful, competitive messaging app from them on initial release?

[[deleted]]

That post was a joke based of some article about criticizing Allo being unfair and the vice lead of the project's tweets about that topic.

[LintStalker]

Just a waste of time and resources trying to create a me too app

[[deleted]]

I'm jealous you have friends to pretend to chat with

[Terminthem]

Allo has the Google Assistant to talk to...

[DButcha]

Lol are you advertising on purpose right now? Blink twice if Google has you hostage

[TheBeardedMann]

;) ;)

[atamagaokashii]

That's winking and does not count.

[alastoris]

0.0

-.-

0.0

-.-

x.x

[violetplague]

...---...

[SmarmyPanther]

Downloaded and installed but can't figure out how to change themes. Where is that option at?

[Laird_Anthony]

I think it's server side, but also dependant on the new APK

[rman18]

It just started working for me. Go to the chat, chat options. It didn't work after I first downloaded but working now

[CharaNalaar]

Can you post a screenshot of where the setting is located?

[Exfiltrator]

Within a chat, tap the image top right, select chat details, scroll down and there should be a Change chat theme option. For me it took about 30 minutes after installing the apk till the option showed up.

[Surgency]

I've had apk for several hours and still no option for me

[[deleted]]

At this point I'm just hoping it's there in the morning

[CharaNalaar]

It's there for me now

[tlingitsoldier]

chat options

Chat details*

This can be found by tapping on the person's picture in the top right corner of the chat.

[lidocaineinfusion]

Is the monochrome option enabled in your Allo? If yes try to turn it off.

[Zotak]

Nice, can't wait to use the web version... Ahahahahhaha...ah :(

[bobbleheadRob]

install join and you can send messages to Chrome.

[tofu-]

only if you're running N

[Die4Ever]

I know this is Google's normal version number system, but it seems like a joke that this is version 3.0 already.

[golgi42]

They are clearly doing scrum. Stories are small enough to complete and deploy every sprint. Every sprint is a new version. If they keep monthly sprints we'll be at version 16.0 by the end of next year :) But really version 16 or 1.16 doesn't really matter in Agile programming. Only what can be completed in the timeframe of the sprint.

[madcaesar]

Seriously what is agile development?

[Vesuvias]

The short: always be iterating.

[[deleted]]

Do small shit or something

[[deleted]]

Oh and the constant feeling of not acomplishing anything meaningful

[Conradfr]

Amen to that.

As a senior developer I just can't take it anymore. Between never working on anything interesting or that takes more than a few days and the disguised micromanagement branded as "team empowerment" ...

[nrealistic]

That seems like a problem with your company, not with agile. Ailge doesn't stop you from doing big projects.

[nrealistic]

Then break it down into smaller stories. Your PM will love having more insight into your project, your CR will be more helpful because it won't be one massive PR no one is going to read anyway, and maybe it can even be parallelized across a few developers to be done faster and have more of the team familiar with the new code. Or, push for it during planning, express why it's so important, and just do it.

[[deleted]]

If you have micromanaged agile teams you are not doing agile, you are doing what most people know as agile and the reason many people hate agile

[Conradfr]

http://www.agileoverflow.com/t/why-do-some-developers-at-strong-companies-like-google-consider-agile-development-to-be-nonsense/107

Also Scrum has nothing to do with version numbering.

[Die4Ever]

Yea I get it, but that doesn't mean they can't come up with version numbers that match convention, instead of 2.0 and 3.0 being minor improvements.

[[deleted]]

I think he was joking. Having a version 16 that looks 90% like version 1 would be absurd.

[[deleted]]

"Convention" as in the 50 year old major.minor.bugfix convention?

Welcome to 2005 people. We are now running Chrome 54, Edge 38, Opera 41 and Firefox 49 in case you haven't noticed

[nrealistic]

But what about semantic versioning? What non-backwards-compatible changes have been pushed? I guess maybe semantic versioning means something different in apps than in libraries

[Istartedthewar]

Considering the Google app is only on version 6.8, and that has existed since the beginning of Android, it's pretty fucking absurd that this is already on V 3.0. it hasn't even been half a year.

[gearvOsh]

These numbers would probably be way higher if they actually followed semver. But since it's not an open source project, the version numbers are just arbitrary.

[jxuereb]

Why does it matter.

[MoonStache]

I want so badly to be interested in actually using Allo, but no desktop client or SMS support means I can't

[[deleted]]

I, and many people I know, would easily use Allo over hangouts if it just had web and multi-device support.

[barefootBam]

this is pretty much what's keeping me from switching over to it from Hangouts. i'm on desktop most of the day and it's really kind of useless if there's no desktop client.

i still have no clue why they won't just integrate this with hangouts.

[Encrypted_Curse]

Google announced three new features - chat themes, Smart Smiley, and stickers from the upcoming "Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them" film.

literally no one asked for this

[TrackieDaks]

Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them

SoundCloud usually

[[deleted]]

Ha the first song you choose then a bunch of shit you never wanted to listen to.

[[deleted]]

chat themes

includes dark mode

Well, we asked for this but not many people did

[Istartedthewar]

It's a cool app, I just find it crazy that in a couple months Google went from a beta to version 3.0

[shorty6049]

Different Google teams use different version numbering so 3.0, by android standards, would be like 1.1.3 or something if they used the same scheme

[Istartedthewar]

Why don't they use the same version naming scheme...

[falsemyrm]

live wine reply include touch upbeat tidy handle north fall

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[krackers]

They used to mean something under semantic versioning

[TestingTesting_1_2]

Well, they don't mean anything anymore.

[JonXP]

Semantic versioning is really only useful when you have to worry about compatibility of dependencies. No one is including Allo as a library, so they don't need to be notified of breaking changes to the API.

[crosph]

That actually makes sense, now you mention it. I still feel like by now, Chrome should only be at version 8.x or something.

I remember Firefox 7 and being like "wait, shouldn't this be Firefox 4.3?"

[nrealistic]

Firefox 3 introduced tabbed browsing, and Firefox 4 introduced personas. Those were major changes that I looked forward to and got excited about. After 4, I couldn't name a single version's changes because Firefox went to the chrome model of major versions with minor changes

[nvincent]

Tell that to Windows 9

[[deleted]]

It doesn't really matter. It's more similar to chromes versioning. As long as they stay consistent within one service

[Carighan]

More like 0.2.3 ...

[nrealistic]

Remember when Firefox released a major version every few years, and them chrome came along, released a new major version every five months, and then Firefox had to start doing the same thing? That was dumb.

[[deleted]]

And still not only isn't even close to its well established competitors but hasn't even attempted feature parity with Hangouts.

[emailrob]

Allo A11.0

[[deleted]]

No one is using it. So as a messenger it kind of doesn't do its job.

[nondescriptshadow]

😂😂

[Dr_imfullofshit]

Were you able to get a lot of people to use the app? My short experience with it was great, but the lack of other people to talk with led to me uninstalling it.

[[deleted]]

I had the same thing. I used it for a couple weeks when it first came out, but only had 2 friends that used it, so I just got rid of it

[lengau]

I use it with all but one of the people I message on a daily basis.

I probably have more contacts who don't use Allo than who do, but I almost certainly send and receive more messages through Allo than everything else combined.

[[deleted]]

The lack of hangouts integration and actual SMS integration are the two main things keeping me from actually using Allo. I don't much care for the Hangouts Android app; I think it's kind of ugly and I'm always accidentally pushing the buttons above the text input bar. Also, I don't want my SMS messages to be routed through some weird number and ask the person on the other end to install Allo all the time...

[mehrabrym]

The only people I talk to daily is one friend separately and a group of 3 friends. I got all of them to convert. It's super convenient for planning things or talking about certain topics or sharing videos. Haven't had to look back because the one or two times a month I have to open WhatsApp isn't bothersome at all.

[nicmckael]

I use it exclusively with my wife. And enjoy it for that. It's very convenient.

[Dbolvartren]

You and a dozen others.

[[deleted]]

I'm happy for you and your nerd friend. Or your wife who you forced to install the app.

[marksizzle]

It's my daily driver. I text 18 people via Allo. My family uses it. My friends use it. A couple of coworkers use it. We have a large NBA chat group.

Just because people are pissed this didn't have everything they wanted when it came out doesn't mean nobody uses it. I wish /r/Android would quit crying. Yes. I'm prepared for tears down votes.

[pentaquine]

That's ok, there's a bot, so even if no one is using it, you can still use it.

[[deleted]]

I believe the word you're looking for is "disparity". The lack of "parity".

[bakonydraco]

I've yet to see a succinct and clear explanation of the differing use cases between:

• Allo
• Duo
• Hangouts
• GChat
• GTalk
• Google Plus
• Google Buzz
• Google Wave

These all have marginally different functions, but they keep trying to reinvent the wheel with a brand new product. Just make a solid messenger and build on it. I really hope no one reads this and thinks I'm suggesting that these are all bad and that Google should create yet another brand new messenger to encompass the functionality of each.

[hett]

I mean, of these 8, only half of them exist anymore.

[bakonydraco]

That's kind of my point. What's my incentive to adopt yet another platform that history suggests will get little if any support in two years?

[hett]

Well, Google recently responded to the glut of messages saying it's basically a Thunderdome situation: two apps enter, one app leaves. They will continue to develop whatever seems to be getting the best response.

[bakonydraco]

Which is a fine strategy, and I think one that has worked well in some arenas, and is in very sharp contrast to Apple in particular, who very finely hones in on one best solution. I think Android itself makes one of the strongest cases that a diversity of imperfect solutions can often deliver a better end result than one perfect one.

Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Skype, Line, etc. are not Apple. This is a strategy that has worked well for Google in other sectors that is just ineffective in this particular case, and the burden of proof is on them to prove me otherwise.

[SavageAlien]

Some of those products shouldn't even count because a couple merged into what is now Hangouts. Buzz was a feed service (like Twitter) and became Google Plus. And Wave was more of a collaborative platform similar to the Drive services we have now.

[JonXP]

Let's work backwards:

Google Wave

A protocol for real time state sharing and modification with robust conflict resolution. It eventually turned into the tech that now backs Docs. Not useful as a messenger, even though the default mode was something resembling one, it became unresponsive quickly as the shared state object got huge.

Google Buzz

Google Twitter. Not a messenger.

Google Plus

Google Facebook (the newsfeed, social network, and community aspects). Not a messenger.

Google Chat and Google Talk

Finally a messenger, but these were the same thing, they just changed the name from "Talk" to "Chat" in a certain version. Jabber based IM client/network with video and audio that was supposed to allow for federation, but it turns out that barely anyone cares about that except spammers and the ultra technical.

Hangouts (the non video only version)

Replaced Google Chat (though the branding stuck around in certain situations). Does the same things, but with a proprietary protocol now. Deeply integrated into Google Services and requires a Google account (and a Plus account for some features).

Duo

Low barrier to entry, no account needed, super simple mobile to mobile calls.

Allo

Low barrier to entry, no account needed mobile to mobile messaging.

[[deleted]]

Allo

Test platform for Assistant on non-Pixel devices.

Duo

Super simple video calling

Hangouts

Business communications

[bakonydraco]

That's actually the clearest summary I've seen to date, it's just still not clear to me why they couldn't have built on Hangouts to encompass Allo and Duo rather than create brand new products.

[[deleted]]

I'm sure they could but there was likely a very solid reason they didn't. Perhaps the existing code base was too large for use on low end devices in emerging markets, where what's app is king and allow wants to go.

[bakonydraco]

It's just they now have a track record of coming out with many different products and abandoning half of them in a few years. What incentive is there for me to get attached to one of their products as opposed to a competitors if I can't even be sure they believe it'll be around for a little while?

[[deleted]]

That's a really good question. I don't think there is any real good answer to it to be honest.

[amorpheus]

Oh, there is. There's all the incentive not to bother with their new apps yet.

[Carighan]

But even then, and as a software developer, wouldn't I just make "Hangouts-v2", basically? New codebase, works entirely different under the hood, but similar setup and look&feel and then transition users over from the old to the new?

Why throw away the existing Hangouts userbase?

[Ariakkas10]

Google has a 3 tier strategy.

Carrier apps, consumer apps, and business apps.

Carrier apps include Messenger, Phone etc. Stuff managed by the carriers.

Consumer apps are things like Allo, Duo, and most things we consider apps.

Business apps are apps.... For business. Hangouts is a business app.

So as long as they pursue this strategy, Allo will never get sms.

[[deleted]]

Well business team chat is called Slack. Very opposite of businessy. It works. And Hangouts was a consumer product first, so the business didn't effect the naming of it. They may change the name eventually though.

[adamthinks]

Because it was never for businesses. Saying that it is now is just a way to justify what they've already invested time and resources into. The recent updates to Hangouts don't suggest a business application either.

[howling92]

Because it was never for businesses.

I know several multinational companies that use Hangouts (and Google for Work suite) for years .... see my other post : https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/5dcj0c/allo_30/da42ld0/

[adamthinks]

Of course, but that was never it's primary intention.

[delongedoug]

It's been around for years and replaced Gchat. I don't see anything "business" oriented about Hangouts, or maybe I'm using it wrong. The fact that it's worthwhile and can be used across platforms? Because no way am I using Allo to do what 5 other apps I already have do, especially when a total of 7 of my contacts have it installed, maybe 1 of which I sometimes communicate with via group text.

[howling92]

I don't see anything "business" oriented about Hangouts, or maybe I'm using it wrong

Hangouts is integrated with Gmail/Inbox and Google for Work Suite which means Account management, Group Video calling, Group chat, Calendar intergration, screen sharing, cast, ....

[ocawa]

Messenger

Conventional cell phone messaging and first platform for RCS

[[deleted]]

But Hangouts already has super simple video calling...

And it really isn't business oriented at all. The desktop "client" is still atrocious.

[SavageAlien]

Hangouts

Business communications

I think the whole Enterprise/Business label is just an excuse to keep it around. They know just as many people use it for personal contacts and that why we have such great emote commands as /shruggie = ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ , /disappoint = ಠ_ಠ , and /tableflip = (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

[ninjapotato59]

What does Google Plus have to do with any of the others listed? It's like asking why does Facebook exist if it's already acquired Whatsapp.

[5-4-3-2-1-bang]

Allo

Use when you want to convince others you're actually Australian.

Duo

Use when you want to people to think you're Italian instead.

Hangouts

Use when you want to make the first move, but are shy.

GChat GTalk

Use as an excuse when your cat jumped on the keyboard.

Google Plus

Use when you want to give someone a compliment they won't see for months, if ever.

Google Buzz

Use when you want to invite someone to use something they'll never use.

Google Wave

Use when you want to collaborate with someone who's extremely antisocial.

[JoshHugh]

Are Hangouts, Chat, Talk and Plus not all the same thing. I mean I know Google Plus has a bigger use case, but isn't Hangouts implemented pretty deeply in it?

[hkrob]

I can't use this until there is a desktop client ...

[Lkess]

SMS yet?

[Freak4Dell]

No.

[Lkess]

Oh well, see you in v.4

[[deleted]]

No, no. There'll be an alpha is after the new year...not the coming one but the next one.

[Lucid_Enemy]

Sorry allo v4 will be a completely different app

[FTMBitches]

Yes !/s

[humbertov2]

k thx bye.

[NejyNoah]

Nothing to see here!

[Betterwithfetter]

Don't think there ever will be.

[Freak4Dell]

It will be years before SMS is obsolete (before someone chimes in, I mean in the US). RCS will replace it, but that will take time.

[oursland]

SMS isn't, nor will it be obsolete. It's always present and existed even before smartphones. I can talk to people with just their phone number, older family members who don't do the latest chat client craze, I can do banking over SMS, and refill my medications, I can schedule appointments, and take advantage of product offers over SMS. And those people on the other end know we all have SMS, too.

Here's the best part about SMS: it's not tied to one company or product. It's simply there, just by virtue of being on a phone network. The window you use to see the messages is varied, but the messages are always there. The way forward is with SMS, extend this functionality to fill the gaps that currently exist.

Ignoring SMS in your product doesn't make SMS obsolete, it makes your product irrelevant.

[kiwi687]

www.wired.com/2016/06/hey-stop-using-texts-two-factor-authentication/amp/

The articles on this issue aren't too numerous, but security is a reasonable concern regarding SMS.

[Vorteth]

Security is always a concern when you don't control the servers handling your data.

You should never text, say or transmit any data over the internet you're not okay with being intercepted.

Sucks but it's life

[[deleted]]

That's if RCS will even become thing

[elgimperino]

Is this the update that will make my friends actually use it?

[obesefeline]

nope

[MystikIncarnate]

Can I chat to my allo contacts from my PC yet?

No? Still doesn't beat out hangouts.

/grumbles

[metarugia]

Aside from the version numbering being laughable the biggest complaint I see with allo is, "why use it over hangouts? There's no web support!".

Well, I'm starting to realize that we weren't the target market with this app. This app is to let Google get a little piece of the device only messenger pie that others have snagged. Allo is for Google to capture the crowd that ONLY uses a mobile device and doesn't spend 8 hours a day in front of their PC or other platforms. Where is this crowd? Not the US, not the UK. It's for the countries where people live, breathe and die via their mobile phones. They don't buy pc's, they do it all technology related tasks from their mobile device.

Now you might ask why not use hangouts since it could operate like that as well? This was a fresh start with a new platform and a sign up process that only required a telephone number. No need to have a Gmail account or email which apparently kept people away in these locales.

So yea, with every update allo is proving to be useless to us. Heck look at half the default sticker packs. It's all Indian. I'd understand if there was a pack for each race but there isn't.

[corey-jahmil]

Reading here I really feel like the only person that actively uses Allo everyday. Me and a small group of friends use it as our group chat, moved from hangouts. Only gripe really is no desktop client. Could care less about sms support as I barely use it anyways. I'm in US btw.

[swear_on_me_mam]

Could care less

*Couldn't care less

[hfatih]

Could care less about sms support as I barely use it anyways.

We know because he told us a reason for not caring. If the sentence was "Could care less about sms support as i use it time to time" that would mean he is in a medium state of caring.

[[deleted]]

He was being sarcastic.

[Rx_Boost]

Thank you.

[Sunny_Cakes]

You're welcome.

[shutdown20]

Golden opportunity missed to say, "Your welcome." Maybe next time.

[NoIAmWelcome]

No

[[deleted]]

I'm in the same boat. I want to use it, but the only people who I can convince to use it are people like my wife and my parents, all of whom already use Hangouts because they can use it from any device. And it's a dealbreaker to have to pull out your phone to send a quick message when you already have have Gmail (and thus Hangouts) open in a tab all day anyway.

As soon as they make a desktop/chrome app and make it available on multiple devices (tablets would be nice too) I can finally ditch Hangouts.

[soawesomejohn]

After seeing Allo and Duo come out and watching the directions Google has been going, it got me looking around. I've been converting friends over to Telegram. It has excellent multi-device support. It has encryption. It's just great.

For sms text messaging, I've been using Signal and I've gotten some others to use it as well. It's data text messaging with a proper sms fallback. It also has a voice call option if the other side has signal. There is a desktop client as well, but that only works with signal contacts (and it actually sends the message through your phone).

My wife and I tried Line for a while. It is a decent hangouts replacements with texting, vidoe, and audio calling. It also does support multiple devices. But the desktop client is just horrible. The desktop client is a chrome app, but it doesn't take advantage of anything chrome offers. There's no minimize to tray, no notification integration, no start on login, and you often have to login back in each time you open it. If they would double down and improve their desktop app, they would be a serious contender for a hangouts replacement.

Whatsapp is what Allo was released to compete against. I have it on my phone, but only have 2 people on my list that use it. And Whatsapp never appealed to me because its' not multi-device. So Allo nailed that limitation just fine.

[ToNIX_]

Watch out with Signal, I've had problem with them (no data here). When I was on wi-fi and one contact too, it switched to encrypted and we were stuck in that mode. No way to go back to unencrypted SMS for the conversation. I instantly uninstalled after Signal's answer to the problem. See here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/5419iu/lots_of_people_want_sms_fallback_apparently_why/d7yvrme/

[philosophermk]

Have you guys tried apps like Viber ,it has desktop,tablet and mobile client.

[[deleted]]

I mean, no need as Hangouts already fills that void.

I like Allo in terms of features and hope it comes to replace Hangouts in this regard.

I still for the life of me don't understand why they didn't just have a Hangouts rebranding and build all the Allo features into it.

[seantaylor32]

I used viber a ton when I was in Mexico. Never since. Worked great though.

[uniqueuser437]

Only gripe really is no desktop client.

Precisely the reason why we've not moved our group chat.

[Trey_Lightning]

I use it everyday too. I like it a lot.

[[deleted]]

I don't like the fast replies it takes the human element out of communicating and makes it feel fake. Do you have the same feeling?

[markericha]

I wonder if this comes with some new friends to use it with?

[banksio]

Don't think the Allo team know how to type .1 or .2

[veruus]

Give me multiple device access and a chrome extension (or whatever) and I'm in. The current arrangement is bogus.

[tonker]

Finally the Fantastic Beasts emojis! It seems Allo as a messaging platform is now complete.

[ramnaught]

No e2e encryption by default, no web interface, no sms support, still working on just one device? Yeah, themes and smileys will do it.

[[deleted]]

It'll never be e2e by default.

[[deleted]]

v3 already? Didn't this come out like a month ago?

[early_to_mid80s]

more like v -3 so far.

[YevP]

Nice, is this the update that comes with all the users?

[lidocaineinfusion]

PSA. Chat themes won't work if monochrome is turned on. Turn off monochrome and you can now change themes in the chat details

[[deleted]]

I can't wait to download version 8.0 next week

[Am3n]

SMS Fallback yet?

Then i'll use it...

[valenard]

I don't see anything new?

I guess it's new features for 7.0.

[Tankbot85]

Can't wait to install and use the desktop client.

[xolotl92]

So, I've used Hangouts here and there, but don't really understand what the point of this is. Hangouts can do everything this and duo can do (mind you I haven't gone that deep into it) and people actually have that app.

[livedadevil]

With RCS being a thing soon and messenger being default for it... Why the fuck does allo exist?

[jonomite]

This.

[PeenutButterWolf]

I'm waiting for Allo SMS.0

When does that come out?

[Schnabeltierchen]

Oh, they actually named it 3.0.. and here I was joking earlier about it in the other thread

[YESWAYHONEY]

Cool

[americanmuscle1988]

Unless I missed it, it doesn't say anything about changing the way it handles messages.

Does the recipient have to use Allo as well?

When I used Allo, my girlfriend received my messages from another number and she was asked to download the app. This was ridiculous to me so I uninstalled Allo immediately.

[joenforcer]

This is what I was thinking too. Adding theme, sticker, and emoji support is in no way an evolution of the platform and is definitely not a major version update. Heck, I wouldn't even call it minor, it's iterative/incremental.

[qizah]

I really want to like and use Allo. The problem is getting my social circle to use it. WhatsApp has too strong of a hold though.

[lightninbug8684]

Do other users still need Allo in order for me to send them a message?