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> Google’s own app Allo has an option for end-to-end encryption but the company says it will no longer invest in it. I really don't understand Google. Wasn't A

by zelos 9y ago

> Google’s own app Allo has an option for end-to-end encryption but the company says it will no longer invest in it. I really don't understand Google. Wasn't Allo a tent-pole item at Google I/O a year or so ago, and now it's no longer being invested in?

telchar 9y ago
They're the oil-rich nation of companies. They can afford vanity projects and woeful mismanagement as long as that sweet sweet advertising money keeps coming in. The sectors of the company that keep that running are run well, but side projects like this seem to come and go with little rhyme or reason as far as I can tell. Much like how the militaries of some countries are well-run and competent (and control the oil) while the rest of the government is a clown show.
- carapace 9y ago
  Yes, exactly this. "You can get away with all kinds of BS when you're sitting in an open fire-hydrant of money." One obvious symptom of this is that Google's internal codebase is organized like a flea market rather than a phone book.
Kalium 9y ago
From what I read, Allo didn't get much in the way of support from carriers and OEMs. Practically speaking, Google needs their support to get something in the hands of users. Google has developed a habit of trying multiple approaches to any given thing, and keeping what's most successful. For definitions of "successful" that aren't always what the rest of us might expect.
- gknapp 9y ago
  I gave Allo an honest shot when it first came out – I was excited by its feature set, and I was hoping for a far improved messenger app. My first message went to my wife, who's on an iPhone. It was really difficult to suss out exactly how Allo wanted to handle this conversation... It seemed to both want to fallback to a default SMS while also trying to do some of the Google Assistant things, failing at both. There are certainly some countries where the vast majority of users are Android, but it seemed pretty unfathomable to me that they'd push a product that didn't function appropriately cross-platform.

by zelos 9y ago

telchar 9y ago

They're the oil-rich nation of companies. They can afford vanity projects and woeful mismanagement as long as that sweet sweet advertising money keeps coming in. The sectors of the company that keep that running are run well, but side projects like this seem to come and go with little rhyme or reason as far as I can tell. Much like how the militaries of some countries are well-run and competent (and control the oil) while the rest of the government is a clown show.

carapace 9y ago
Yes, exactly this. "You can get away with all kinds of BS when you're sitting in an open fire-hydrant of money." One obvious symptom of this is that Google's internal codebase is organized like a flea market rather than a phone book.

Kalium 9y ago

From what I read, Allo didn't get much in the way of support from carriers and OEMs. Practically speaking, Google needs their support to get something in the hands of users. Google has developed a habit of trying multiple approaches to any given thing, and keeping what's most successful. For definitions of "successful" that aren't always what the rest of us might expect.

gknapp 9y ago
I gave Allo an honest shot when it first came out – I was excited by its feature set, and I was hoping for a far improved messenger app. My first message went to my wife, who's on an iPhone. It was really difficult to suss out exactly how Allo wanted to handle this conversation... It seemed to both want to fallback to a default SMS while also trying to do some of the Google Assistant things, failing at both. There are certainly some countries where the vast majority of users are Android, but it seemed pretty unfathomable to me that they'd push a product that didn't function appropriately cross-platform.