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convenient. just removed the entrenched competitor app for one of their services.

by gcb0 13y ago

mschuster91 13y ago
Uh, where does Skype compete with any Google service? edit: to those answering "Hangouts", can that actually be considered competition?
- SomeoneWeird 13y ago
  hangouts? edit: yes.
- mpartel 13y ago
  Hangouts
- interstitial 13y ago
  That's the funny thing about Google abysmal failure in most products outside search and gmail, their subpar competition doesn't even rank in most people's mind unless they force it on you.
  - josu 13y ago
    The competition is not subpar, the apps just benefit from network economies, and the best does not always win. Just look at Whatsapp.
    - mschuster91 13y ago
      Well, WA actually did win, because it was the best. Whatsapp is like the Ryanair of messaging: no ads, no games, (up to FB acquisition) no data mining, basically: no frills, no hassles. Compare that with Skype/MSN Messenger, the FB Messenger or basically any other messenger out there: ads, more ads, MORE FUCKING ADS, a PITA to add/find new contacts (Whatsapp just bootstraps with the contact manager of the phone!), oh and did I forget MORE FUCKING SHITLOADS OF ADS? And no way to pay to just get rid of them?
      - bad_user 13y ago
        Well, the current version of WhatsApp is eating my battery like crazy on my Android 4.4 / Nexus 4. And I hate their accounts / login system, as it depends on having an SMS-enabled plan and capable device. This means I cannot use WhatsApp on my desktop, on my iPad, on any device other than my primary phone basically, or when traveling at which point I shun roaming charges for local pre-pay plans. Facebook's Messenger for example, or any messenger service not mapped directly to your primary phone number, has no problems with any of that. > did I forget MORE FUCKING SHITLOADS OF ADS? Facebook's Messenger has no ads, or promoted posts, or anything related to your stream in it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.orca https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.o... This goes for Google Hangouts, Skype, Slack or XMPP services in general (hosted by you or not), amongst myriads of messenger services that don't do ads. So I think you're exaggerating.
        mschuster91 13y ago
        > This goes for Google Hangouts, Skype, Slack or XMPP services in general (hosted by you or not), amongst myriads of messenger services that don't do ads. So I think you're exaggerating. Google is known to mine your data for personalization of advertising of Mail ads, but I do not know if this is also done for Hangout chats. Skype has ads like hell (open a chat on a netbook, half the vertical screen size is lost to ads and fucked up layout), Facebook the same (sidebar on the web site), and likely also data mining.
      - josu 13y ago
        How can you call an app that can only be installed in one device, "the best"? GTalk, for example, offered the same services, plus sync across all device, plus better security and encryption. There are and have been many messaging apps just like whatsapp: Viber, Kik... And many more that we have never heard of.
bad_user 13y ago
I'm one of those users that monitors the battery drainage of every app that I use - since I'm a heavy apps user, I care about my phone's battery life and certain apps make for a dramatic difference. Skype has always been amongst the worse in terms of battery drainage. 6 months ago it was so bad that my phone wouldn't last for a couple of hours in standby with Skype active. It got much better but it's still so bad that I cannot keep it active. I basically keep it disabled and only open it when I need to talk to a contact, then I logout again. And I don't know what's wrong with WhatsApp messenger, because it too is guilty of a lot of battery drainage lately. Hence I uninstalled it completely. Google's Hangouts is barely visible in the stats on battery life that I collect (with GSam Battery). The battery usage could be hidden within system services, however I always test messenger apps with a before & after test. In the case of Hangouts, I disabled it completely for a complete discharge, after which I enabled it again and no significant difference happened.
- gcb0 13y ago
  it doesnt matter if you disable hangouts, the push and update subsystem will always run. you will never get a better reading unless you disable several google services you cant disable. skype et al era just more visible. though it is just a matter of google not allowing other in their infrastructure for the benefit of the user. not even offering as a paid service for those competitors. pure old greed.
  - bad_user 13y ago
    That's not exactly true. 1. you can for example disable the google account synchronization happening, either for Hangouts specifically, or for the whole google account and notice the difference. If you don't trust doing that, you can always install CyanogenMod on your phone, without any of Google's services, at which point you'll have no capability of synchronizing your Google account at all. And then notice the difference between that and simply not synchronizing your Google account. I did that btw, because as I've said, I'm a fanatic in regards to battery life. 2. I use and have used other messenger services regularly, like Facebook's Messenger. None of them have been so bad as Skype is.

convenient. just removed the entrenched competitor app for one of their services.

by gcb0 13y ago

convenient. just removed the entrenched competitor app for one of their services.

Uh, where does Skype compete with any Google service? edit: to those answering "Hangouts", can that actually be considered competition?

SomeoneWeird 13y ago
hangouts? edit: yes.
mpartel 13y ago
Hangouts
interstitial 13y ago
That's the funny thing about Google abysmal failure in most products outside search and gmail, their subpar competition doesn't even rank in most people's mind unless they force it on you.
- josu 13y ago
  The competition is not subpar, the apps just benefit from network economies, and the best does not always win. Just look at Whatsapp.
  - mschuster91 13y ago
    Well, WA actually did win, because it was the best. Whatsapp is like the Ryanair of messaging: no ads, no games, (up to FB acquisition) no data mining, basically: no frills, no hassles. Compare that with Skype/MSN Messenger, the FB Messenger or basically any other messenger out there: ads, more ads, MORE FUCKING ADS, a PITA to add/find new contacts (Whatsapp just bootstraps with the contact manager of the phone!), oh and did I forget MORE FUCKING SHITLOADS OF ADS? And no way to pay to just get rid of them?
    - bad_user 13y ago
      Well, the current version of WhatsApp is eating my battery like crazy on my Android 4.4 / Nexus 4. And I hate their accounts / login system, as it depends on having an SMS-enabled plan and capable device. This means I cannot use WhatsApp on my desktop, on my iPad, on any device other than my primary phone basically, or when traveling at which point I shun roaming charges for local pre-pay plans. Facebook's Messenger for example, or any messenger service not mapped directly to your primary phone number, has no problems with any of that. > did I forget MORE FUCKING SHITLOADS OF ADS? Facebook's Messenger has no ads, or promoted posts, or anything related to your stream in it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.orca https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.o... This goes for Google Hangouts, Skype, Slack or XMPP services in general (hosted by you or not), amongst myriads of messenger services that don't do ads. So I think you're exaggerating.
      - mschuster91 13y ago
        > This goes for Google Hangouts, Skype, Slack or XMPP services in general (hosted by you or not), amongst myriads of messenger services that don't do ads. So I think you're exaggerating. Google is known to mine your data for personalization of advertising of Mail ads, but I do not know if this is also done for Hangout chats. Skype has ads like hell (open a chat on a netbook, half the vertical screen size is lost to ads and fucked up layout), Facebook the same (sidebar on the web site), and likely also data mining.
    - josu 13y ago
      How can you call an app that can only be installed in one device, "the best"? GTalk, for example, offered the same services, plus sync across all device, plus better security and encryption. There are and have been many messaging apps just like whatsapp: Viber, Kik... And many more that we have never heard of.

bad_user 13y ago

I'm one of those users that monitors the battery drainage of every app that I use - since I'm a heavy apps user, I care about my phone's battery life and certain apps make for a dramatic difference. Skype has always been amongst the worse in terms of battery drainage. 6 months ago it was so bad that my phone wouldn't last for a couple of hours in standby with Skype active. It got much better but it's still so bad that I cannot keep it active. I basically keep it disabled and only open it when I need to talk to a contact, then I logout again. And I don't know what's wrong with WhatsApp messenger, because it too is guilty of a lot of battery drainage lately. Hence I uninstalled it completely. Google's Hangouts is barely visible in the stats on battery life that I collect (with GSam Battery). The battery usage could be hidden within system services, however I always test messenger apps with a before & after test. In the case of Hangouts, I disabled it completely for a complete discharge, after which I enabled it again and no significant difference happened.

gcb0 13y ago
it doesnt matter if you disable hangouts, the push and update subsystem will always run. you will never get a better reading unless you disable several google services you cant disable. skype et al era just more visible. though it is just a matter of google not allowing other in their infrastructure for the benefit of the user. not even offering as a paid service for those competitors. pure old greed.
- bad_user 13y ago
  That's not exactly true. 1. you can for example disable the google account synchronization happening, either for Hangouts specifically, or for the whole google account and notice the difference. If you don't trust doing that, you can always install CyanogenMod on your phone, without any of Google's services, at which point you'll have no capability of synchronizing your Google account at all. And then notice the difference between that and simply not synchronizing your Google account. I did that btw, because as I've said, I'm a fanatic in regards to battery life. 2. I use and have used other messenger services regularly, like Facebook's Messenger. None of them have been so bad as Skype is.