Google reportedly admitted that one of the reasons behind the app’s closure is due to lackluster support and fanfare. At its height, the app had the attention of less than 50 million users. Less than half of Telegram’s user count, and merely a fraction WhatsApp’s more than one billion users. The shutdown of Allo also comes the search engines shifts its focus on Rich Communications Services (RCS) messaging. Compared to Allo, RCS is poised to replace the traditional SMS system on Android devices. It also comes with several features including read receipts, file sharing, group messages, and typing indicators.
Additionally, Google will also be replacing the classic version of Hangouts. Moving all existing users over to Hangouts Chat and the video conferencing app Hangouts Meet. (Source: Google Blog via Techspot)