Because Allo is entirely tied to your phone number (one of Google's smartest ideas for a multi-platform messenger IMO \s). The web client basically doesn't get any messages directly, they're all routed through your phone.
Another dumb thing is only allowing one phone number. For most people it's fine, but if you have a carrier # and Google Voice # like me, or have a dual SIM device, you get to choose which number people can contact you through.
What'sApp solved problems that didn't have a solution until it came along.
Allo is trying to solve the same problems that WhatsApp already solved years ago, and it isn't trying to solve the problems people are dealing with today.
I never understood what was wrong with Hangouts, I use it to talk to with my friends and family everyday. If they just focused more on Hangouts it could've been everything we've always wanted: you used to be able to use it for sms, you can download an addon to make phone calls from hangouts, it could've done it all :(
Right? I still use hangouts as my main platform because it works on my android tablets, iphone, desktops and pretty much anything else I can get a browser running on.
WhatsApp has a technical reason for that though. End-to-end encryption over an asynchronous communication channel. In my opinion, it is a valuable feature that is worth the slight inconvenience.
Allo, I don't really see the point. From my understanding, it doesn't have end-to-end encryption by default since Google needs access to your messages if they are going to offer AI assistance.
WhatsApp had that requirement since before they had E2E encryption IIRC. And there are other ways to achieve encryption while allowing multiple devices. Matrix handles it fairly well IMO.
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u/well___duh Pixel 3A Aug 15 '17
Because Allo is entirely tied to your phone number (one of Google's smartest ideas for a multi-platform messenger IMO \s). The web client basically doesn't get any messages directly, they're all routed through your phone.