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Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

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Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#401

Post by vthallam »

Yhippa wrote: post #397
mark_l_watson wrote: post #396

I installed it and am comparing it to updates in macOS Sierra that I installed today. Even though Siri hooks into Wolfram Alpha so it does very well with 'calculation style' questions and general world questions, without Google's greater knowledge of what we are doing it can't compete. The question for people to answer individually is do they want give up more private information and have a great Google experience, o…

You know when you search Google for a question and sometimes it will highlight the answer in a card at the top of the page by itself? I'm really surprised it's not doing that in Allo.

Basically part of the answer and a hyperlink to the full answer. Guess, they will add it soon enough.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#402

Post by wehadfun »

snowwrestler wrote: post #336
soylentcola wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly why so many of my friends and family use Hangouts née Gmail Chat. We can use it in the browser at work just by keeping Gmail open in a tab. No IM applications to install or concerns about whether we're running Windows, OSX, or whatever. Then the conversations follow when you log off whatever desktop or laptop you're on via the mobile app. About half of us use Android so it either comes standard or you…

I use Google Voice for a second phone number on my iPhone and yeah, it worries me how little attention it seems to get. It took Google forever to update it to match the iOS 7 "flat" look. And to this day it's missing a pretty obvious feature: search! Yes, there is no search functionality in the Google Voice app on iPhone. Apple's Messages and Facebook Messenger both have it.

Also no API. Google Voice has been ignored for so long. Probably because it is not easy to advertise on or get data from

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#403

Post by [deleted] »

snowwrestler wrote: post #336
soylentcola wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly why so many of my friends and family use Hangouts née Gmail Chat. We can use it in the browser at work just by keeping Gmail open in a tab. No IM applications to install or concerns about whether we're running Windows, OSX, or whatever. Then the conversations follow when you log off whatever desktop or laptop you're on via the mobile app. About half of us use Android so it either comes standard or you…

I use Google Voice for a second phone number on my iPhone and yeah, it worries me how little attention it seems to get. It took Google forever to update it to match the iOS 7 "flat" look. And to this day it's missing a pretty obvious feature: search! Yes, there is no search functionality in the Google Voice app on iPhone. Apple's Messages and Facebook Messenger both have it.

[deleted]

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#404

Post by mattmcknight »

kyrra wrote: post #350
TuringNYC wrote: post #254

Not sure how common this is, but everyone at both school and work these days shifts seamlessly from mobile to dekstop and back. This has been one of the main reasons we tend to use WhatsApp and Slack, even for corporate communications as silly as that sounds -- because you can type long messages on it on the keyboard/desktop but also have access to it on the go. What I don't understand is -- given Allo had a blank sl…

You don't need a Google account to use Allo. Being phone-number driven for setup and how you are identified within the App is really the key to answering your questions. From articles/reviews of the app from official publications, Google is saying a Desktop app is in the works, it's just not ready yet.

right, so just add phone number accounts to hangouts.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#405

Post by zeveb »

sorenjan wrote: post #340
sbarre wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh.. I had never looked at Duo and I scrolled down the landing page and saw "Preview incoming video calls before accepting them" and now I want FaceTime and Skype to immediately integrate that.. That's a killer feature..

Why? Are you going to decline calls based on the preview? How do you explain that to the other person?

> Are you going to decline calls based on the preview? How do you explain that to the other person?

From the calling end, the person just sees that you didn't pick up, right? So he wouldn't know that you declined because of the preview.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#406

Post by zeveb »

CoryG89 wrote: post #366
sbarre wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh.. I had never looked at Duo and I scrolled down the landing page and saw "Preview incoming video calls before accepting them" and now I want FaceTime and Skype to immediately integrate that.. That's a killer feature..

Maybe it's just me, but I kind of find this a bit creepy. It seems to me that it would be similar if the phone companies allowed you to listen to someone calling you while it was still ringing for them. Maybe it's not quite what I am thinking though. I can't tell if the video preview is live or if it's something recorded before the call is made.

> Maybe it's just me, but I kind of find this a bit creepy.

As long as the person on the other end knows that he's on-camera, I think it's NBD. The trick is ensuring that eh really does know that, and isn't picking his teeth, washing his hands &c.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#407

Post by davidw »

Pxtl wrote: post #356
calinet6 wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My lord, why isn't Allo just Hangouts 3? They had an established userbase, a name, a brand, and useful cross-platform tools already. I get the desire to start fresh, but that's a lot of established traction in a very crowded market to just throw away.

Exactly. Hangouts has a lot of problems - its performance doesn't impress me, and the UI is confusing in a lot of ways, and splitting SMS/Conversations is something that really disappointed me, but still - it has the full featureset. I mean obviously, it suffers from the fact that it's heavily tied to Google accounts, which isn't ideal for trying to reach outside of the Google sphere. But otherwise, it does everythin…

Performance? Just how fast do you type, anyway?

UI? I write things, and they appear in front of someone else. Even my technophobe mom has no problems with it.

Tied to Google... well, yeah. But you kind of need some kind of 'account' for chat apps.

I remember when 'Whatsapp' came out and people mentioned that it didn't have a web interface. I won't use anything that I can't type into when I'm at a computer - pulling out my phone and t-y-p-i-n-g out a message is just a non-starter.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#408

Post by marcosdumay »

stepanhruda wrote: post #333
codelitt wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep saying mobile is the future, however, I just can't imagine desktops leaving us anytime soon. If I'm on the go, then sure I want it on my mobile device, but 99% of the time when I'm at work I want quick and easy access either through an app or the browser on my desktop. If a service I use doesn't have a desktop app, then it likely won't receive any of my attention until I'm out of the office.

Either you are misinterpreting those people, or they are wrong. The point is we were doing 100% of everything on desktop. However it turns out mobile is a better platform for >50% of tasks, that's why it's king.

> it turns out mobile is a better platform for >50% of tasks

For the tasks we do >50% of the time, maybe. But no way it's better for >50% of the tasks.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#409

Post by gmarx »

scottmf wrote: post #129

The technology behind the feature is great, don't get me wrong. But there's something so empty about the Labrador response. I want a discussion with a human. Not a human-curated conversation of algorithm-determined responses. Simple human conversation isn't as much of a problem-to-be-solved as they seem to think it is.

Will this evolve into a complete substitute for small talk? Will we some day have text algorithms exchanging pleasantries with our friends text algorithms each day? Hi John, how are you today? Wonderful! are you enjoying the 79 F sunny day? Why yes, Terry, I am!

Once you automate (insincerity? phoniness?) does it go away?

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#410

Post by willow9886 »

Interesting that another trending story on HN contradicts google's post wrt the privacy features included in allo:

http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/21/12994362/allo-privacy-mess...

I had a feeling Google's representation of their respect for user privacy was too good to be true. Clearly they only have an interest in marketing privacy, as opposed to actually delivering effective privacy controlling tools and features.

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