While Google Allo was meant to be the app that takes over from Google Hangouts in terms of messaging services on Android devices led by the Google Pixel phones, the response to the app has been, well, unimpressive.
There are many people out there who are still fans of Google and its approach to mobile-first development as far as messaging apps are concerned. In fact, these are the people that have been vocal about what Google Allo really lacks in terms of features – something that could be a huge contributing factor to this cold response to the messaging app.
For Google Allo to be seen as a viable app, there are indeed quite a number of features it needs to add. But rather than keep using the current version as they wait for Google’s response with respect to adding more features, Android users have opted to stay off the app. Initially, the Google Allo app recorded a massive 5 million downloads in the Play Store in its first 5 days. Interestingly, this figure stuck there, albeit with smaller increments, for the next two months following its launch and as at the time of this writing, the app has finally made it to the 10 million to 50 million section.
The slow growth of Google Allo in the past months shows that the hopes users had for the app faded away once they had installed the app and Google is basically doing little to make it more fun. Personally, I was among the first to pre-sign for the app, but my fondness for the app has slowly faded away. One exciting feature about Google Allo was the Assistant, especially since I don’t use a Pixel phone. This meant that the Allo app is the only way I could interact with the Assistant, still, I have found it hard to convince more people to ditch apps such as WhatsApp or even Facebook Messenger in favor of Allo.
Nonetheless, the fact that Google Allo has finally crossed the 10 million downloads’ mark in the Google Play Store shows that the app still has some love out there. Are you among the group helping to grow the user base of Allo? Please share your experience with us via the comments below.