After Google’s new chat app, Allo, had an apparent failure to launch, Google is now seeking user opinions on it through surveys and study groups. Google is looking for users in the areas of Seattle, London, Sao Paulo, San Francisco, and New Delhi who would be interested in heading to a local Google office to be presented with a prototype version of the Allo app, which they can then give feedback on before the features make it into the version meant for mass use. While Google is currently only looking in those areas and does not appear to be running any remote surveys on the product, they may well expand the study area in the future by sending Google researchers out into the field to talk to users about Allo.
Google’s seemingly intense effort to save Allo implies that they are far from willing to let their shot at competing with the likes of Facebook Messenger and iMessage just slip away. When Allo debuted, it was met with a lukewarm reception for a number of reasons, such as having no desktop counterpart or cross-OS chat abilities, not saving user profiles and chats to the cloud, and other such flaws that competitors and even Hangouts, the app that Google apparently wants Allo to supplant, all don’t have to contend with. The fact that Google is looking for input is a positive sign, but it’s certainly no guarantee that they can pull Allo from the jaws of defeat.
Allo launched back in September of 2016 with a fairly barebones feature set outside of the headline feature, being Google Assistant integration, and has largely stagnated since then, with a new feature popping up here and there, and mostly being novelty features or things that competitors already have. The launch of the Lucky bot, which dispenses GIF images, was a promising show of support for the chatbot-centric future, but not much has happened with the app since then. By launching a user study, Google can hopefully gather some vital input on what the app needs, and perhaps drum up some interest in the app while they’re at it. If you’re in any of the indicated areas and would like to participate, you can sign up for a chance to do so through the source link.