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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

#481
post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It really should've been that simple. Then take from allo incognito conversations, stickers, and smart replies, and you just have a nice hangouts update.

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

#483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely doesn't make sense. I use hangouts constantly. It is my default app for SMS and chatting with family. I like having one consistent thread between different desktop devices, as well as mobile. Yes Slack has replaced it for work, but that's no good for family, at least not mine. Until this has desktop support there is no reason for me to buy in. Why not have (one of) the most important feature of hangouts (a…

For SMSs too? On my Android, the new(ish?) message app ("Messenger") now wanted control of SMSs back from hangouts. Another silly reversal, and another silly messaging app from Google. Fourth time lucky? On that topic, when is the inbox app replacing the gmail app? Maybe never and that's good, given that sometimes I cannot download attachments with the inbox app that I can happily download from the old gmail app righ…

Has Inbox gained the ability to have recipient lists?

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

#484

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…

+1 Once they add a Windows or Linux client I'll give Allo a try. To me it's a bit distracting to abruptly interrupt a coding session and pull out my phone. Lately I've been trying to minimize distractions and stay in a terminal or development IDE as much as possible. I mentally view distractions similar to latency when accessing memory, something like: Look up info in terminal or IDE - comments within code, man pages…

It's for exactly this reason that I'm creating a terminal-based calorie tracker. Working on finishing up the curses-like client so i can quickly type

    bogg 120 # consumed 120 calories
    bogg -120 biking # exercised 120 calories while biking
https://github.com/bo-gg/bogg-api

Once the command line portion is finished I plan to do a Show HN and hopefully people start using it.

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

#486
post #350

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.

I hate this sudden desire to have every account keyed on a phone number. I know 3 phone numbers - mine, my wife's and my parent's. Oh, I still remember my friends from elementary school's parent's phone numbers too, but honestly, I haven't had to think about learning a new phone number in over a decade. I'm honestly about an inch away from shutting off my own phone number, which has been a google voice number for 6 years now, because the only calls I ever get on it are spammers asking me about my electric bill. People who I care about email me, or use google talk/Hangouts. I know all my friend's email addresses. Email addresses are customizable and easy to remember. We don't need to keep working around a 100 year old call routing problem by memorizing area codes and routing exchanges. Hangouts, or Google Talk used to support people signing up with whatever their email address was, and you could reach them by knowing their email address. Why am I being asked to think about 10 digit geographically segregated numbers again?!

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

#488
post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There is no search functionality in the hangouts app either. What other messaging apps lack the ability to search conversations? Google's own SMS messenger app implements search beautifully.

Well. Maybe it is not the same for you, but hangout messages get archived as emails in gmail. so search gmail maybe?

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

#489
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.

I screen lots of calls via the ansaphone on my landline. It's a feature I would miss if I went mobile-phone-only.

I like the idea for video calls too.

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