Google is Shutting Down One of its Chat Applications For This Reason

Launched just two years ago, Allo, a chat app by Google, is expected to be killed by the middle of 2019 according to a blog post from the company.

The chat app will only work until March 2019, at which point users will have to download any conversations they want to save. Google will instead be focusing fully on the development of Messages, its other chat app for Android phones.
Google’s blog post read:

“Communicating with the people in our lives is one of the most important things we do every day, whether it’s chatting with friends about an upcoming trip, calling mom to check in, or touching base with colleagues. Over the past few years, we’ve built products to help improve the way you communicate and today we’re sharing an update on our current efforts, and our focus moving toward a simpler communications experience.

We want every single Android device to have a great default messaging experience. We’ve been working closely with the mobile industry to upgrade SMS so that people around the world can more easily enjoy group chats, share high-res photos, and get read receipts on any Android device.

In parallel, we built Google Allo, a smart messaging app, to help you get more done in your chats and express yourself more easily. – Given Messages’ continued momentum, we’ve decided to stop supporting Allo to focus on Messages.

Allo will continue to work through March 2019 and until then, you’ll be able to export all of your existing conversation history from the app—We’ve learned a lot from Allo, particularly what’s possible when you incorporate machine learning features, like the Google Assistant, into messaging.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and have not been compensated for this article.