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Google has realized that Allo is only used by seven people (six are their employees), and has decided that Chat is the new way in the world of messages on Android, according to an exclusive from The Verge. You may be thinking “Another messaging app? Oh really? With the work that it takes to rip people out of the clutches of WhatsApp and get them to try Telegram.” Actually, Chat is not a new messaging app.It is a service based on the RCS (Rich Communication Services) standard, and aims to replace SMS. In other words, Chat would have a Universal Profile, it would come pre-installed on mobile phones and would depend on the operators Something like iMessage for iPhone.
Chat creation is not an impromptu move. Google has been negotiating for a long time so that telephone operators and mobile manufacturers get on the Universal Profile for RCS. And it seems to be working. To date, 55 carriers and 11 manufacturers support the RCS suite of services natively. On the list there are names like Samsung, LG, Telefónica, Vodafone, Orange, HTC, Huawei or Asus Even Microsoft is with Google in this. Apple has not wanted to pronounce itself, but the new standard comes with force, so no possibility is ruled out.
What is (or pretends to be) Chat
Chat will not be another messaging client like WhatsApp, Telegram or poor Allo.Its claim is to replace SMS. That is, Chat will be a new set of features that will be incorporated into the messaging tool that we already have on our Android phones. It will not be simple 160-character messages between two people. Thanks to RCS, users will now have standard features at their disposal, such as sending images and video, "message read" notifications, and group messages. In addition, Google intends to introduce other functions, such as the search for GIFs.
Actually, Chat is just a nice name for the RCS Universal Profile. That is, Chat is an operator-based service, not a Google service. The idea is that it comes pre-installed in future mobiles. Being standard, if we send a message to a person who does not have Chat or is not an Android user, they will receive a traditional SMSSending and receiving messages will use your data plan, so you won't be charged more than our monthly fee.
However, just like SMS, there will be no end-to-end encryption, which iPhone iMessage does have. What we will supposedly gain in universality, we will lose in security and privacy.
When will we be able to use Chat on our phones?
Google has made great strides in implementing the new messaging standard. In Redmond they assure that the new chat service will be available to most users in the near future. Their optimism makes them confident that many operators will make the leap at the end of 2018
On the other hand, any communication standards that depend on carriers and manufacturers can be compromised in many ways.Google has a pull, but, for example, an operator could set Bing as the default search engine. Or set up your own RCS client. As for the manufacturers, they move in a world similar to the Wild West. Lots of smiles from the outside, but nobody really trusts anyone.
It should be noted that SMS are much more popular outside of Spain The success of applications such as WhatsApp or Telegram in our country is due to the abusive price that text messages still have. Beyond the Pyrenees, SMS is almost always free. Despite the popularity of WhatsApp, users continue to turn to Android Messages, especially in the Asian market. And Google has this trump card.
Regarding Allo, Google has preferred to “leave it on pause”. That is, if you are one of those who uses Allo, you can continue to do so, but do not expect too many updates from now on.Although Google continues to be relevant in other aspects of messaging Hangouts has evolved into an application aimed at the professional and business world, where it has Slack as its main rival. For its part, the Google Duo video calling app works quite well, even among iPhone owners.
Implementation of a new standard may seem like a good idea. If you have an almighty like Google behind you, it may seem like an excellent idea. But it could also add to the list of standards that seemed so, but in the end no.
