Google’s decision to launch Allo caused many raised eyebrows. After all, the company was venturing into a market that was already full at the seams. And instead of focusing on the products that it already had (Hangouts) the company instead went and launched a new app. Since then, Google has been attempting to set Allo apart from the other options available. The company took another step along the same path today as it rolled out a couple of new features and improvements.
If you use Allo, you might notice that it is now easier to add GIFs to your conversations. Tap the smiley icon, swipe right to left and search. The app has also received animated emoticons. Choose a smiley as you normally would and drag upwards or downwards to make your selected emoji larger or smaller.
Finally, the compose box now has a new button that allows users to bring Google Assistant to their conversations with a single tap.
Meanwhile, Google’s strategy with regards to the messaging market continues to defy understanding. The company started out with Hangouts, built it into a solid cross-platform messaging service that formed a part of every integral device by default, as was actually used. However, the company for some obscure reason decides to launch a completely new app rather than build upon Hangouts existing popularity.
That was around when Google came up with Allo and Duo, the first as a platform for text and the second one for video calls. Again, Google’s reasons for creating two separate apps when every Internet messaging service is integrating both the features into one are obscure — particularly when considered in light of the fact that Hangouts already had both the features.
As for Hangouts, Google initially wanted Hangout to be used as an enterprise friendly app. However, it also has a new enterprise focused app called Meet, that was spotted a couple of days ago. So as things stand now, Google has 4 applications in the market at present and most of them reiterate each other’s features. I wonder who is drawing up the strategy for the company’s forays into messaging — a niche with giants like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger — which does not really have that much room to experiment in the first place.
Well, all we can do is hope that all this is part of Google’s complicated plan and that everything will eventually come together in a masterful symphony with Allo, Duo, Meet or Hangouts establishing a solid foothold in instant messaging.
The new features are already available for Android with iOS expected to follow suit soon.
