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Google’s Messaging Mess: A Timeline

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Re: Google’s Messaging Mess: A Timeline

#21

Post by arvindamirtaa »

fastball wrote: post #9
COGlory wrote: post #7

I tried so hard to integrate into the Google ecosystem. I had a Gmail account and Google Talk to start. Eventually an Android phone, on Project Fi, with Hangouts and SMS (so I could send SMS over the internet). I upgraded from Gmail to Inbox. Then when they ditched that for Allo and Duo I tried to switch to those. Then I lost SMS on my computer because it got removed from Hangouts. Then I tried to switch to Google vo…

Which service do you use for CalDAV / CardDAV? I've been trying to migrate from a gmail account to my own personal domain, but my current provider doesn't support those so I want to move on to someone else. The thing that annoys me most is that (as far as I can tell) only the big name providers have integrated mail/caldav/carddav, if you use a bring-your-own-domain solution they need to be added as 3 separate account…

+1

I've been looking for a sane calendar service that's not Google calendar and there's just nothing that's open-standards compatible.

Re: Google’s Messaging Mess: A Timeline

#22

Post by sirius87 »

Gmail now displays a splash/loading screen that reads "Google Workspace".

Confused the heck out of me because I have a personal account with Google One for extra storage space, and a Google Workspace account for a managed domain for my startup.

Re: Google’s Messaging Mess: A Timeline

#23

Post by microtonal »

arvindamirtaa wrote: post #21
fastball wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which service do you use for CalDAV / CardDAV? I've been trying to migrate from a gmail account to my own personal domain, but my current provider doesn't support those so I want to move on to someone else. The thing that annoys me most is that (as far as I can tell) only the big name providers have integrated mail/caldav/carddav, if you use a bring-your-own-domain solution they need to be added as 3 separate account…

+1 I've been looking for a sane calendar service that's not Google calendar and there's just nothing that's open-standards compatible.

Fastmail supports CalDAV (as does iCloud).

Re: Google’s Messaging Mess: A Timeline

#24

Post by deadmutex »

jaimex2 wrote: post #2

Google as an inovative company with amazing things to try died almost a decade ago. Today its more or less IBM. Would you try IBMs new chat app?

There's so many counter examples to this though... E.g. Stadia, which a lot of people doubted would be technically possible at all.

Re: Google’s Messaging Mess: A Timeline

#25

Post by microtonal »

barsonme wrote: post #16
Osiris wrote: post #5

Does anyone have any insight into Google's internal politics or processes that lead to this mess, and why is chat so much more fragmented at Google than other services?

I’m not sure how true it is, but the common refrain I keep seeing on HN and elsewhere is that Google’s promotion track incentivizes new products over maintaining and expanding current products.

That's the common refrain, but making a new product doesn't put it front and center at a Google I/O keynote or push it as the official new Google strategy. You'd think that C-level executives have a word on what is announced in keynotes, etc.

Re: Google’s Messaging Mess: A Timeline

#26

Post by gonehome »

COGlory wrote: post #7

I tried so hard to integrate into the Google ecosystem. I had a Gmail account and Google Talk to start. Eventually an Android phone, on Project Fi, with Hangouts and SMS (so I could send SMS over the internet). I upgraded from Gmail to Inbox. Then when they ditched that for Allo and Duo I tried to switch to those. Then I lost SMS on my computer because it got removed from Hangouts. Then I tried to switch to Google vo…

I used Google Voice when they first acquired it - it was years early and really ahead of things back then. Texting from the web, voice transcription for messages, could ring multiple numbers.

Then they did nothing with it for maybe seven years? MMS would silently fail so people inviting you to events via group chat or sending you a photo would just think you were ignoring them.

Hangouts came and the mess with that and sms was worse. I had nexus phones back then which also had turn by turn navigation before the iPhone did.

Huge missed opportunity, years wasted. When the iPhone 5 came out and Apple Maps shipped turn by turn nav and eventually iMessage did everything voice did but better I switched and never went back.

Google’s software consumer stack sucks. I also tried to like it - it’s a mostly crappy mix of stuff that gets dropped, ignored, and poorly integrated.

At the same time Apple’s stuff has improved year over year. Out of all the large tech companies I’m most bearish about Google’s future - they seem aimless. Deepmind is cool, but Google better hope that ad money machine never stops printing.

Re: Google’s Messaging Mess: A Timeline

#27

Post by gman83 »

barsonme wrote: post #16
Osiris wrote: post #5

Does anyone have any insight into Google's internal politics or processes that lead to this mess, and why is chat so much more fragmented at Google than other services?

I’m not sure how true it is, but the common refrain I keep seeing on HN and elsewhere is that Google’s promotion track incentivizes new products over maintaining and expanding current products.

I heard that this hasn't been true for several years, but everyone keeps repeating it.

Re: Google’s Messaging Mess: A Timeline

#29

Post by kiwijamo »

fastball wrote: post #9
COGlory wrote: post #7

I tried so hard to integrate into the Google ecosystem. I had a Gmail account and Google Talk to start. Eventually an Android phone, on Project Fi, with Hangouts and SMS (so I could send SMS over the internet). I upgraded from Gmail to Inbox. Then when they ditched that for Allo and Duo I tried to switch to those. Then I lost SMS on my computer because it got removed from Hangouts. Then I tried to switch to Google vo…

Which service do you use for CalDAV / CardDAV? I've been trying to migrate from a gmail account to my own personal domain, but my current provider doesn't support those so I want to move on to someone else. The thing that annoys me most is that (as far as I can tell) only the big name providers have integrated mail/caldav/carddav, if you use a bring-your-own-domain solution they need to be added as 3 separate account…

Fastmail is fantastic if you have an iOS device. They provide a file which you simply download/open on your iOS device and it automatically configures your phone to access FastMail mail, calendar, contacts, etc. I believe they use the same mechanism that corporates use to configure employees phones. Could not be more easier and you get to use all of Apple's native apps. iOS + Fastmail is the best combo I've found so far for easy Mail/Contacts/Calendar independent of the big giants.

Re: Google’s Messaging Mess: A Timeline

#30

Post by gman83 »

It hasn't been all that confusing to me. I was on Google Talk, then I switched to Hangouts, which I have been using with my family until about a month ago, we've since transitioned to the new Google Chat and it's been fine. I like that it works on every device just by logging in. I also use Signal if there's more confidential stuff I need to send. I haven't used SMS in years and I really hope they don't try to bake that back in. Nobody I know in Europe uses SMS, it's just for receiving codes and stuff.
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