No matter how hard Google tries to push Allo and Duo into the mobile realm, Google Hangouts will still remain a fan favorite. The chat app has between 1 billion and 5 billion downloads from the Google Play Store alone, although this figure has nothing to do with the actual number of people who use it actively.
Many are still rejoicing the newly launched Google Allo for Web. This app lets you transfer your conversations to desktops. Google Hangouts already offers this feature, but given Allo is about a year old, it’s obvious that it’s playing catch-up.
If you are using Google Allo for Web and you still can’t put behind your Google Hangouts memories, there’s a way to make this app feel exactly like Hangouts. It’s quite simple. All you need is to download and install the Stylish extension from the official Chrome Web Store. When done, visit the official userstyles.org website and download the Allo to Hangouts theme. Install it on Chrome and visit the official Allo for Web website to see the changes.
What Stylish basically does is let users customize any website to what they feel like. It’s also possible to mix different themes, animations, backgrounds, and skins to come up with what perfectly suits you. This means you don’t have to stick to the Google Hangouts color theme. Cool huh!
Google Allo has had mixed performances since day one. During the first five days, it had recorded up to 5 million downloads in the Google Play Store. Two months later, the only addition was another 5 million downloads. With only about a month to its first anniversary, the messaging app, which was seen as (alongside Duo) the heir to the Google Hangouts throne on mobile devices, is still below 50 million Play Store downloads. Remember, this has nothing to do with active users of the app.
A number of features have come on board since the turn of the year and possibly more are coming. It’s only then that we’ll be able to tell whether Google Allo still has a chance or Google should just give up with the instant messaging industry.