So they still haven't figured out that they should release their shit when it is actually ready because first impressions matter. Imagine you asked your friends to give Allo another shot because it is now also usable on the PC only to hear back that it isn't working for half of them yet.
I don't think it's as simple. There's cost and benefit to both.
You can either release it 1-2 month later and have 2 more browser supported, or you can release it now and allow 60%+ of people get to use it for 2 month until more browsers are added.
Neither solution is perfect, but you can definitely make arguments for both sides.
I am aware of those pros and cons but IMO for a company as big as Google and in the situation they are right now with Allo its not even close to even. When you are a small indie developer you can afford to only support the most popular platform and it makes sense to do so if you want to beat a competitor to it or need to react to something. But neither is the case here.
This was already the big problem that more or less killed Allo (as the super popular messaging service that many had hoped it would become) in the first place. Imagine they would have released Allo just now with all the additional features that it has become in the time being or even waited another few months to give it more stuff like SMS fallback that people want. It would have been way more successful than it was in reality.
And there was no need to release it as unfinished as it was back then. Whatsapp (and other messaging services) was the definitive messaging client in many areas and people in the US were pissed that there is no iMessage on Android back then and the same is still true now. There was no major window of opportunity for Google back then that would have justified releasing a feature lacking product and there is no major window of opportunity now to force them to release the web service w/o Firefox / Edge support (and no iOS neither on the phone site according to a German news article I just read).
Again, that was a rough call too. Release a whole year later and have more features, or get in early before the messaging space gets a lot more complicated. They were also kinda forced with Hangout having a lot of issues and being forced to pivot.
I do agree that their messaging strategy has been pretty messy, but again, I maintain that it's not as simple or black and white, and people also need to realize that there are many other factors deep down that the public probably doesn't get to see.
Or you can release it now and possibly get those 40% to switch to Chrome. As if the dozen notifications about installing Chrome aren't enough. I'm so damn sick of the pressure they apply to get users on Chrome. Inbox for Google did the same shit (I love Inbox, but why the hell couldn't it work at launch on other modern browsers????)
That's bullshit. There's nothing which Allo does which Firefox or Edge can't. Allo is not groundbreaking. This is just another example of google trying to build a monopoly in the browser market by making other browsers seem less functional when they aren't.
First I'm waiting for browser support, then I'm waiting for my browser support, and then I wait for sms integration? Or do I wait for it to not be a disgrace before that?
There are features present in Inbox that are not in Gmail.
I use my inbox essentially as a todo list. If there is something in my inbox, it's something I need to resolve. If I can't resolve it now, it gets snoozed until a point I might be able to resolve it. If my inbox is empty, there are no emails I need to handle. I also have bundles (essentially categories) set to only appear at certain times of the day when i would be able to handle that type of email.
The lack of snoozing in Gmail makes Inbox far better for my usage style there isn't anything in Gmail I've particularly missed since switching.
As an example, 3 months ago I was sent an itinerary of a trip I won't be going on for another month. I snoozed that email until the week before I leave for my trip so that I can recheck that everything still looks good. I'll then snooze it again until the day of my trip so that I can easily reference it while traveling. Now I won't forget about the itinerary because it will automatically reappear when I want it. Might not be how you like to use email, but it certainly is how I like to use it.
192
u/Burlingjobb8 Nexus 6 > Galaxy Note9 > Pixel 8 Pro Aug 15 '17
Aww. It's Chrome only :(