Confused about Google's messaging apps switching from iOS


Recommended Posts

Hey guys. I'm in the process of potentially switching to Android from iOS. Most everything seems pretty straightforward to me except Google's messaging apps. 

I use iMessage pretty heavily especially across multiple devices (Desktop / iPhone). What I cannot figure out with Google is if hangouts or allo can fully replace iMessage yet? 

Syncing across multiple devices including desktop 

Being able to integrate SMS directly in the app and being able to send SMS via the desktop app like iMessage / Apple Messaging app 

 

It looks like Hangouts can sort of do most of this, but also hear that Google is trying to phase that out for Allo which cannot do this 

I think you get asked during setup if you want to integrate Hangouts with SMS messaging. I chose not to do this, maybe I should give it a whirl? Being able to SMS on desktop seem like a handy thing. :p

  • Like 1
8 minutes ago, Steven P. said:

I think you get asked during setup if you want to integrate Hangouts with SMS messaging. I chose not to do this, maybe I should give it a whirl? Being able to SMS on desktop seem like a handy thing. :p

Yeah its pretty handy and I've gotten pretty used to it. 

If I enable Hangouts and SMS on my phone will that then work as well on the desktop?

22 minutes ago, wv@gt said:

Yeah its pretty handy and I've gotten pretty used to it. 

If I enable Hangouts and SMS on my phone will that then work as well on the desktop?

I enabled Hangouts as default SMS app and then got promoted to try the 'new Messaging app' as a default one, so it seems even Google isn't wanting people to set Hangouts as default SMS messenger :s

  • Like 1
2 minutes ago, Steven P. said:

I enabled Hangouts as default SMS app and then got promoted to try the 'new Messaging app' as a default one, so it seems even Google isn't wanting people to set Hangouts as default SMS messenger :s

Hmm and what "new messaging app "are they trying to get people on then? Allo? 

As far as I've heard it supports SMS, but doest have a desktop client :/ 

This is why I'm confused to Google's strategy here 

32 minutes ago, wv@gt said:

Hmm and what "new messaging app "are they trying to get people on then? Allo? 

As far as I've heard it supports SMS, but doest have a desktop client :/ 

This is why I'm confused to Google's strategy here 

It was just the default Messaging app in Android lol.

  • Like 1
1 hour ago, Steven P. said:

It was just the default Messaging app in Android lol.

So will hangouts absolutely not let you use sms even when selected? I just can't figure out the Google strategy here.

Messenger for (SMS and MMS?)

Hangouts for chat between Google users (possible SMS?)

Allo (fancy new messaging app for emojis but only on mobile devices)

Duo (Google's version for facetime) 

Afaik Messaging is just the standard SMS app, I have Hangouts installed too which works for whichever contacts are in it. One day Google will just settle on one service like Microsoft is trying to (Skype + Messaging) but for now it's a bit disjointed.

  • Like 1
30 minutes ago, Steven P. said:

Afaik Messaging is just the standard SMS app, I have Hangouts installed too which works for whichever contacts are in it. One day Google will just settle on one service like Microsoft is trying to (Skype + Messaging) but for now it's a bit disjointed.

You can use Hangouts for SMS as well.

30 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

You can use Hangouts for SMS as well.

When I select it, the phone immediately suggest me to use the "new Messaging app from Google" instead.

  • Like 1
1 minute ago, Steven P. said:

When I select it, the phone immediately suggest me to use the "new Messaging app from Google" instead.

https://support.google.com/hangouts/answer/3441321?hl=en

3 hours ago, wv@gt said:

Hey guys. I'm in the process of potentially switching to Android from iOS. Most everything seems pretty straightforward to me except Google's messaging apps. 

I use iMessage pretty heavily especially across multiple devices (Desktop / iPhone). What I cannot figure out with Google is if hangouts or allo can fully replace iMessage yet? 

Syncing across multiple devices including desktop 

Being able to integrate SMS directly in the app and being able to send SMS via the desktop app like iMessage / Apple Messaging app 

 

It looks like Hangouts can sort of do most of this, but also hear that Google is trying to phase that out for Allo which cannot do this 

Hangouts used to be able to handle SMS, but that was removed. You need SMS and Hangouts/Allo. Personally, I like Allo better but Hangouts is integrated into Google websites.

2 minutes ago, Xilo said:

Hangouts used to be able to handle SMS, but that was removed. You need SMS and Hangouts/Allo. Personally, I like Allo better but Hangouts is integrated into Google websites.

And Allo doesn't have a desktop app. I looked at PushBullet just now, seem like that is basically what I want and has something similar to air mail. Just can't believe google has made this so complicated. 

iOS / iMessage is just simple and works,

14 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

"When you turn on SMS, your existing text messages are imported into Hangouts on your Android phone. You won't be able to see them on your computer, iPhone, iPad, or tablet."

 

What good is it to use Hangouts then? :p

  • Like 2
6 minutes ago, Steven P. said:

"When you turn on SMS, your existing text messages are imported into Hangouts on your Android phone. You won't be able to see them on your computer, iPhone, iPad, or tablet."

 

What good is it to use Hangouts then? :p

One stop shopping--on your phone. 

I use pushbullet, but also airdroid for syncing and transfers. PB used to be what you needed for messaging sync across devices, and not just sms but all notifications.  But now airdroid also does all the same things as pushbullet, and while I haven't tried it yet, it seems to do it better in some ways. 

2 hours ago, HawkMan said:

I use pushbullet, but also airdroid for syncing and transfers. PB used to be what you needed for messaging sync across devices, and not just sms but all notifications.  But now airdroid also does all the same things as pushbullet, and while I haven't tried it yet, it seems to do it better in some ways. 

 
 

Does airdroid let you be connected on multiple devices at one time yet? Last time I tried I couldn't be logged in on 2 computers at the computer  time. Which is too bad, because I loved it in comparison to pushbullet.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • I and many others did not vote to get out of the E.u because of Putin or Farage, we did so for our own reasons. You don't have to tel me what my own did or did not do when it comes to the E.U. The EEC is or was the European Economic Community, a different beast to what the E.U is now.The EEC was a mainly about trading, the E.U have gone far beyond that and as I have said before, is now more of a United States of Europe. The U.K did not vote to join a United States of Europe. Anyway, they did not want us in there in the first place, Charles de Gaulle stopped us joining as he claimed we didn’t agree with the core ideas of integration. He was not wrong and that is why we voted out of the E.U when the time came. I was not old enough to vote the first time. My only regret is that we did not have the referendum years ago and got out years ago. If we rejoined, we would have to agree to join the Euro and no doubt Schengen, agree with freedom of movement, we have enough problem with people coming over here as it is. i have no problem with people coming over here if they work and don't try to push their way of life onto us. The E.U has a currency, freedom of movement, an anthem a flag, a parliament, well they are there, not sure if they do anything. Don't sound like something that is just for trading. Oh yeah, also wanted a euro Army. How many stupid rules have the E.U made that we had to follow? I doubt I will see the Uk rejoin the E.U, which suits me. Oh yeah, my partner is Polish, she came over here before Poland joined the E.U and she got fed up of people just coming over here with ease, while she had to struggle. She is now a British citizen and have been for a fair few years
    • Saluton, Paŭlo. Dankon pro la ĉefartikolo. Ĝi estis interesa. Mi esploros pli pri la aplikaĵo kaj ĝia koncepto. Kompreneble, se vi konas min entute, vi scias, ke mi dirus, ke viaj artikoloj bezonas iom da redaktado! Mi ĉiam faras tion, ĉu ne? Ekzemple, la artikolo foje mencias koncepton antaŭ ol difini ĝin, ekzemple, relajsoj.
    • Screamer is 50% off on Steam, making it £24.99 here in the UK: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2814990/Screamer/ You might remember the series from the mid 90s / early 2000s, this new game is also by Milestone who created the older games.
    • U.S. partially reverses Anthropic AI ban for Mythos but keeps Fable 5 off the market by Karthik Mudaliar Anthropic says that the U.S. government has finally allowed it to restore Claude Mythos 5. But of course, there's a catch. The rollout is again for a limited set of U.S. organizations that operate and defend critical infrastructure. The company announced this in a post on X (formerly Twitter). This does not mean that Anthropic's latest frontier models are back to normal availability. Fable 5, which was a tuned version of Mythos 5 for public release, remains unavailable. Anthropic said that it is still working with the government to expand Mythos 5 access and make Fable 5 available again, but there's no timeline. Reports from Bloomberg and Reuters say that this decision actually came through a letter from the U.S. Commerce Department. According to Reuters, this would allow more than 100 companies and institutions access to Mythos 5. Reuters also reported that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s letter removes the need for export licenses for approved companies’ non-US citizen employees, as well as Anthropic’s own non-US citizen employees, while restrictions remain for organizations outside the approved list. Anthropic isn't alone with this kind of controlled rollout. OpenAI's newest model family, GPT 5.6, was announced just yesterday, but isn't available for everyone yet. In its announcement, OpenAI also said that access to these models is initially limited to a select group of trusted partners and organizations, with broader access planned later this year. Both of these cases show that frontier AI launches are no longer just ordinary product releases and more like slow and vetted deployments shaped heavily by the U.S. government.
    • Sol, Terra, Luna - aren't those the names of failed crypto coins? 🤣🤣🤣
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Woland13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Woland13 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      bernmeister earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      500
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      226
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      156
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      75
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!