I don't think the problem is even one app. They should have had a central board where people set interoperability standards then they can build multiple apps. As long as hangouts could talk with Allo etc it doesn't matter and people can use the one they prefer and it's irelevant to another person's descion.

Now Google have dug a deeper hole as there is little change any tech influencer is going to use or promote Google messaging apps to their circle.

Personally I'm available on Signal, Skype and WhatsApp and it's going to take a hell of a change to make me care about trying something else.

It's so many things Google can't decide what they want. Almost all their Google services are login-based. Your gmail login works on search, on youtube, on calendar, on anything really. Yes. On Hangouts too. But not Allo/Duo. Someone thought it would be hipper to throw that out the window and have people use their phone number instead. Cool. Sure. But why make that the only choice for almost a year?

It's like nobody at Google uses an iPhone or has heard of Facetime. "Oh look, there's an app that lets you call and at a tap of a button turns that call into video! I wonder if we should do something similar?" "- nah, that would be too easy."

It really is that simple. It's really shocking that a company like Google has failed over and over at this. Apple nailed it on the first try. Both iMessage and FaceTime.

What's more frustrating is that Google had Google Talk. It was super successful and really well liked. Rather than maintain and improve it, they threw it away.