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The end is nigh for Google Allo, announcement likely coming soon (Update: Google confirms it)
Update, December 6 2018 (02:59AM): We got word yesterday that Google would be killing off Allo, and now the search colossus has confirmed the news on its official blog.
Google said it “paused” investment in the IM app earlier this year, choosing to bring several Allo features (e.g. Smart Reply and desktop support) to the Messages app instead.
“Given Messages’ continued momentum, we’ve decided to stop supporting Allo to focus on Messages,” the company added. Google confirmed that Allo would work until March 2019, and said users could still export their conversation history if they wish to do so (Settings > Chat > Export messages from chats/Export stored media from chats).
The company first launched Google Allo back in 2016, offering some interesting functionality for the time. The Google-owned IM app delivered features like Whisper/Shout functionality (increasing or decreasing the size of the text you’re sending), Google Assistant integration, and Incognito chats.
Original article, December 5 2018: If for some reason you’re still using Google Allo, you might not be able to use it for much longer. According to 9to5Google, we can soon expect Google to announce the beginning of the end for the company’s short-lived chat app.
9to5Google also recently broke the news that Google plans to dramatically change the way Google Hangouts works. The original rumor was that Google was going to terminate Hangouts Classic, but Google eventually chimed in to say that it would be bringing Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat to the general public, instead of keeping them exclusive to G Suite customers.
It’s highly likely the 9to5Google source who informed the publication about the end of Hangouts Classic is the same source informing it about the end of Google Allo. In fact, 9to5Google claims that Google may have intended to announce the end of Allo sooner, but pushed it back when news leaked about its plans for Hangouts. After all, you can’t announce the essential terminations of two chat apps at once, now can you?
Although an official announcement of Google Allo’s end is likely coming, it won’t have been unexpected. In 2017, the head of Allo left Google for Facebook, and shortly thereafter most of the Allo team moved over to Android Messages. With the eventual rollout of RCS messaging for Android devices, Google is likely putting all of its resources into Messages, setting it as the primary messaging app from the company.
As such, it’s only a matter of time before Allo is shown the door.
If you’re still using Allo and need something else, check out our chat app roundup below.