Ask HN: Why did hangouts(Google talk) not take off as it should've?

2 pointsvcool079y ago1 comments

I'm more of a old school web user (started much before the smartphone revolution). And back in the day, I remember this nifty app called - google talk for the desktop, which was leagues ahead in terms of speed and ease of use compared to other apps (ex: yahoo chat). I used it for a long time, and even in the smartphone era, I stuck with it for some time even after it became hangouts. I might still prefer to use it, but most of my friends have moved onto whatsapp or skype for group messaging / one-one messaging. I feel Google had this incredible opportunity, but failed to cash in on it leading to other clones like WA, FB messenger claiming the top spots.

Any particular reason why google neglected the hangouts app ?

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iamdave9y ago

I snarkily want to say "because Google has no idea what it's doing with messaging", but that's probably being too strong. It's a solid question to ask, that it needs to be asked I think points to the conundrum of messaging from the perspective of a consumer regarding Google products.

I'll say this much, the constant moving around of platforms and products around messaging, and the eventual announcement that Hangouts would be killing off SMS support for anyone who wasn't a Google Fi subscribe or a user of a Google Voice number is what finally pushed me to drop Android and buy an iPhone.

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