- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Google Allo leaked
Posted on 9/21/16 at 12:19 pm to Korkstand
Posted on 9/21/16 at 12:19 pm to Korkstand
quote:You said it not me.
I'm not sure if I helped you or confused you more
I get the difference now in that one is sent via cell carrier and the other through internet data.
But I still don't understand what Allo is here for if Hangouts already exists?
0
Posted on 9/21/16 at 12:20 pm to shel311
quote:I hope my prior post cleared that up. If not, ask again and I'll try to clarify.
I don't get the difference between hangouts/Messenger
quote:It's supposed to be simpler. Hangouts is kind of a cluster of an app, and it tries to do chat, video calling, and SMS all in one. I guess it never gained much traction, so they decided to simplify by making Allo for chat and Duo for video calling. SMS be damned.
if Hangouts exists, what was the point of needing Allo?
Posted on 9/21/16 at 12:22 pm to bbap
quote:Right, but you can still change how your messages are sent whenever you want. It's just a user-facing option that doesn't need to be there, I guess.
don't you only make this decision the very first time you send something to them? not each time you send a message.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 12:22 pm to Korkstand
quote:I think it worked, thanks!
I hope my prior post cleared that up. If not, ask again and I'll try to clarify.
quote:Why the heck would I want to use Messenger, Allo, and Duo when I can get it all with Hangouts?
It's supposed to be simpler. Hangouts is kind of a cluster of an app, and it tries to do chat, video calling, and SMS all in one. I guess it never gained much traction, so they decided to simplify by making Allo for chat and Duo for video calling. SMS be damned
This is giving me a headache.
Hangouts would burn up data, correct? I remember trying it out for a month and noticed my data spiked big time as I text a lot for work when I'm out and about away from home/work. So I just went back to Messenger.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 12:23 pm to Korkstand
understood.
Seems to me they should have just worked harder on marketing hangouts and making it more user friendly (although personally i have no issues with the interface).
having hangouts, allo, and duo to me just makes things more confusing, not simpler.
Seems to me they should have just worked harder on marketing hangouts and making it more user friendly (although personally i have no issues with the interface).
having hangouts, allo, and duo to me just makes things more confusing, not simpler.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 12:30 pm to Korkstand
quote:
SMS is useless for the way people text today. Like I said earlier, no read receipts, no formatting, hacky group messaging, etc.
Everyone I know with iMessage has read receipts turned off, except one friend. So I don't see it as a big deal.
Formatting? I guess it'd be good to be able to format messages better than SMS can, but most people I know wouldn't really use it
Hacky group messaging, absolutely, definitely needs to be fixed, and is the worst part of SMS IMO
quote:
As for cross-platform... there is no "true" cross-platform messaging system when you consider the browser a platform. Hangouts is close, it works in the browser and on Android and iPhone, but feature phones are left out. SMS works on feature phones and smartphones, but not the browser. Allo only works on smartphones. iMessage only works on iPhone.
quote:
If you want to use a single app for messaging, and still be cross-platform, while still having more advanced features available than SMS, don't you pretty much have to find some way of doing SMS integration on top of your new messaging platform?
Why? Whatsapp did it without SMS.
I'm talking about messaging platforms, not the mobile platforms. Meaning Whatsapp is not cross-platform because it can't message anyone not using Whatsapp. I assume. I've never used it.
I should be able to open my messenger, put in a telephone number and hit send, and be sure that the person received it regardless of what apps they have installed. At this point, that requires SMS integration.
quote:
Apple could have handled it better, no doubt. But IMO part of the reason they didn't handle it better is because they tried to make the experience seamless, and I just don't think that's possible when trying to integrate SMS support into a more modern platform.
As someone who has used iMessage from the first day it was released I haven't had a single problem other than with group messaging that includes SMS recipients. But I don't do a lot of group messaging to be fair.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 12:33 pm to shel311
quote:quote:
It's supposed to be simpler. Hangouts is kind of a cluster of an app, and it tries to do chat, video calling, and SMS all in one. I guess it never gained much traction, so they decided to simplify by making Allo for chat and Duo for video calling. SMS be damned
Why the heck would I want to use Messenger, Allo, and Duo when I can get it all with Hangouts?
That's what I don't get. Why wouldn't I want my messaging app to be able to do all types of messaging? I can see taking video calling out, as calling and messaging are two different types of communication.
The only reason NOT to do it is because handling all of these different protocols and different platforms is a problem. But solving this problem should be the goal here with new apps going forward, not creating more separate messaging apps
Posted on 9/21/16 at 12:41 pm to shel311
quote:Ehh... it uses it, but I wouldn't say it burns it up.
Hangouts would burn up data, correct?
quote:Did you send a lot of picture messages? Even then, I wouldn't expect Hangouts to cause a spike in data use. Did you do much video calling while not on wifi?
I remember trying it out for a month and noticed my data spiked big time as I text a lot for work when I'm out and about away from home/work.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 12:50 pm to Korkstand
quote:Probably no video calling, and minimal pics while not on Wifi.
Did you send a lot of picture messages? Even then, I wouldn't expect Hangouts to cause a spike in data use. Did you do much video calling while not on wifi?
That being said, I already use Messenger, so I'm not really sure what the benefit is of trying to switch back again.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 1:06 pm to Lazy But Talented
quote:
Any pros over iMessage?
Allo directly shares your transcripts with the NSA.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 1:07 pm to efrad
quote:I think I'm using the wrong term. I don't mean a prominent notification letting you know the message was received, I'm just talking about the little indicator in the chat window that shows whether the message was received. I think iMessage says "delivered".
Everyone I know with iMessage has read receipts turned off, except one friend. So I don't see it as a big deal.
quote:Same here, but a lot of people use emojis. Also MMS is severely limiting compared to internet-based services when it comes to pic/audio/video messages.
Formatting? I guess it'd be good to be able to format messages better than SMS can, but most people I know wouldn't really use it
quote:That's the thing, it can't really be "fixed". The fix is to get everyone to use a newer, better platform.
Hacky group messaging, absolutely, definitely needs to be fixed, and is the worst part of SMS IMO
quote:True, but we've already discussed the downsides to SMS. The worst part is, in order to get something better, we have to rely on the likes of AT&T and Verizon to not only agree on things but also implement them. In the meantime, it looks like apps are the only way to do modern messaging.
I should be able to open my messenger, put in a telephone number and hit send, and be sure that the person received it regardless of what apps they have installed. At this point, that requires SMS integration.
quote:Like I said, chat apps work perfectly until they try to integrate SMS.
As someone who has used iMessage from the first day it was released I haven't had a single problem other than with group messaging that includes SMS recipients.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 1:11 pm to shel311
quote:I use hangouts because I can use it on my computer. Also, I have no cell service at work and hangouts works via wifi on my phone.
I already use Messenger, so I'm not really sure what the benefit is of trying to switch back again.
The only person I ever message is my wife, anyway.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 1:20 pm to Korkstand
I had to switch back off of hangouts just now. It didn't receive two MMS messages. Does this happen to you often?
Posted on 9/21/16 at 1:42 pm to Korkstand
quote:
I think I'm using the wrong term. I don't mean a prominent notification letting you know the message was received, I'm just talking about the little indicator in the chat window that shows whether the message was received. I think iMessage says "delivered".
I think those are called "delivery receipts" and while they are definitely useful (I hate that SMS messages seem to go out into the void until I get a response).
quote:
Same here, but a lot of people use emojis. Also MMS is severely limiting compared to internet-based services when it comes to pic/audio/video messages.
SMS uses unicode though which supports emoji. SMS is limiting but not too that bad as long as the client handles it properly (downsizing, etc.)
quote:
That's the thing, it can't really be "fixed". The fix is to get everyone to use a newer, better platform.
Yeah I get that, but until everyone is on a newer, better platform, we should have SMS fallback. It's not really THAT bad.
quote:
True, but we've already discussed the downsides to SMS. The worst part is, in order to get something better, we have to rely on the likes of AT&T and Verizon to not only agree on things but also implement them. In the meantime, it looks like apps are the only way to do modern messaging.
There's basically 4 scenarios here:
1. Get big companies to agree on a new protocol
2. Get every person to agree on a new app
3. Be left not able to message everyone
4. Use SMS as a stopgap
2 obviously going to happen, and I'd rather have 4 while waiting for 1 to happen instead of 3.
quote:
Like I said, chat apps work perfectly until they try to integrate SMS.
But I'd rather have an imperfect experience than not be able to message some of my friends...
Posted on 9/21/16 at 2:32 pm to efrad
quote:Using unicode cuts the already small max message length in half. And yeah you have to count on the sending client to encode it properly and the receiving client to decode it properly (and reassemble multipart messages). I've seen plenty of little squares in texts that were supposed to be something else.
SMS uses unicode though which supports emoji. SMS is limiting but not too that bad as long as the client handles it properly (downsizing, etc.)
quote:We have had newer, better platforms for over a decade. The problem? They've had SMS fallback, so SMS never went away.
Yeah I get that, but until everyone is on a newer, better platform, we should have SMS fallback.
quote:It's impossible to leave a group SMS. It's pretty bad.
It's not really THAT bad.
quote:I worry that as long as we continue doing 4, then 1 will never happen because the carriers are like "it works" because people are still using it.
There's basically 4 scenarios here:
1. Get big companies to agree on a new protocol
2. Get every person to agree on a new app
3. Be left not able to message everyone
4. Use SMS as a stopgap
2 obviously going to happen, and I'd rather have 4 while waiting for 1 to happen instead of 3.
quote:I don't think we'll see a phone that doesn't have an SMS app anytime soon, so you will always be able to message anyone. I just question whether the convenience of an "all-in-one" messaging app is worth the inconvenience of bringing SMS along.
But I'd rather have an imperfect experience than not be able to message some of my friends...
Posted on 9/21/16 at 3:04 pm to Korkstand
quote:
Using unicode cuts the already small max message length in half. And yeah you have to count on the sending client to encode it properly and the receiving client to decode it properly (and reassemble multipart messages). I've seen plenty of little squares in texts that were supposed to be something else.
I dunno how iOS does it, but SMS messages don't have a size limit on iOS. I'm guessing it chains multiple messages together somehow, and I don't know how that looks on the opposite side of the message, but it does do it seamlessly and I've never had a problem with it. Never seen square characters appear before.
quote:
We have had newer, better platforms for over a decade. The problem? They've had SMS fallback, so SMS never went away.
This sounds like the usual Apple argument, actually
quote:
I don't think we'll see a phone that doesn't have an SMS app anytime soon, so you will always be able to message anyone. I just question whether the convenience of an "all-in-one" messaging app is worth the inconvenience of bringing SMS along.
Yeah, that just seems like an awful idea. I would have to constantly check if friends had iMessage/(whatever the new platform is) and if they don't, switch over to the SMS app. And if they don't, I would have no easy way of knowing if they did get iMessage in the future.
I get what you are saying, but this is a little different than, say, Apple dropping Flash support because content creators in that situation were left with the choice of supporting the new standards vs. not having a significant portion of their reader base be able to consume their content. They had a financial incentive to switch their content over to new platforms. In this situation you just have the normal Joe or Jane unable to message their friends and they can't figure out how. It's doubtful they'd all agree on the same platform, and if they did, they'd all end up with one platform leaving that platform's creator with a monopoly over all messaging.
For any of this to be fixed properly, someone at least needs to design and implement a feature-rich new protocol that is open, documented, and extensible.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 4:32 pm to efrad
looks like Allo's getting blasted to high heaven over google backing off of their initial privacy features.
i bet google backs down to public sentiment and somehow at least tries to revamp it.
i bet google backs down to public sentiment and somehow at least tries to revamp it.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 5:18 pm to The Egg
The user criticism I see mostly relates to the lack of SMS functionality.
Which I agree with. They made a Facebook Messenger competitor. How totally useless.
Which I agree with. They made a Facebook Messenger competitor. How totally useless.
Posted on 9/21/16 at 5:26 pm to Pettifogger
That's the problem, anyone who needs just a chat app has likely made that decision years ago. They have gotten all of their friends to join in. The only chance allo has at gaining traction is to offer functionality that other apps don't. Ie, SMS integration, ability to use across multiple devices etc.
Just doing the same thing WhatsApp has been doing for years is not going to draw in users. And Google assistant is not enough for me to switch.
Personally I was very excited about allo thinking that it would be an entirely new experience that would allow me to get rid of Textra and WhatsApp. What I found is that I should just be happy with my options and hope that gboard come to Android which should replicate all of the functions of the Google assistant
Just doing the same thing WhatsApp has been doing for years is not going to draw in users. And Google assistant is not enough for me to switch.
Personally I was very excited about allo thinking that it would be an entirely new experience that would allow me to get rid of Textra and WhatsApp. What I found is that I should just be happy with my options and hope that gboard come to Android which should replicate all of the functions of the Google assistant
Posted on 9/21/16 at 10:42 pm to dltigers3
Someone explain to me why fb messenger just doesn't get used for these purposes?
I honestly think it's the best app on my phone and there is a web client too.
I honestly think it's the best app on my phone and there is a web client too.
Page 5 of 6
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News