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0 pointsZak11mo ago0 comments

Thanks for the insider perspective.

I used Hangouts for a while and had a bunch of contacts on it when it was Android's default SMS app. Many of them were not particularly technical, including one of my parents whom I don't recall telling to use it. If you were using an Android phone, you were probably already logged in to a Google account. iPhone users had to work a little harder for it (install the app and remember the password to the Gmail account they probably already had).

I don't recall the UX on the mobile client having extra complexity over other messaging apps if I didn't go digging in the settings, but it's been a while.

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prmoustache11mo ago

A lot of people have a google account because it is created when they setup the smartphone or enter the playstore for the first time for the first time but don't even realize it is not only a "smartphone account" and it gives them access to google workspace/gmail.

simfree11mo ago

I think the concept of a user having an existing Gmail account if they aren't in the Google ecosystem is a bit of hubris.

There are many people I run across who bypassed the whole Gmail and Google Workspace ecosystems and have rolled along merrily with me.com and other email providers.

It's not a given that users will have bothered to register for a Google account unless they grew up in the Bay Area after a certain time period.

Wind back the clock to when Google tried to roll out Hangouts and the Gmail penetration rate was even lower among the non-Android users out there.

ZakOP11mo ago

I'm just thinking of my own friends and family, who are mostly not tech nerds and none of whom live in the Bay area. Gmail launched with so much more storage than any other free email service everyone thought it was an April Fools joke (no doubt in part because it was launched on April 1). Everybody wanted it, and nobody who got an invite code before I did would give me theirs.

This is all anecdotal of course. Maybe it wouldn't have worked, but how quickly they gave up was weird.

RestlessMind11mo ago

Gmail as a product was simple - a better version of Yahoo or Hotmail where you don't have to worry about storage size nor have to sort emails into various folders. Search worked magically and spam filters were better than anyone else. In short, UX was superior.

Hangouts UX sucked big time. I remember lots of frustrating sessions with my parents about why video calls weren't going through, or how can some random family member join our family thread when they don't have a Gmail account etc.

fooker11mo ago

> Search worked magically

Funny because now it doesn't. It routinely fails to surface emails that exist.

ZakOP11mo ago

I didn't intend a comparison between Gmail and Hangouts, just to say a whole lot of people already had the required account.

You definitely had a rougher experience with it than I did, but my main point is Google launched it, didn't seriously iterate on it, and gave up its strongest distribution channel at the first sign of pressure from carriers. Since they keep launching messaging products, I must conclude they want to be in that space and it was foolish of them to squander their best opportunity.

chgs11mo ago

I remember laughing with colleagues as the first edition of the evening standard came in with the 1G gmail on the front page. I remember the exact location I saw it too.

couldn’t believe they had fallen for an April fools.

But that was a limited time window when gmail massively outweighed the 10-20mbit of things like hotmail with effectively unlimited storage.

lmm11mo ago

> If you were using an Android phone, you were probably already logged in to a Google account.

Sure. But is it the same Google account that your relatives email you on, or a different one that only that phone is using? When you drop this phone are you going to sign into that same Google account or make a new one? The answers for non-technical users are non-obvious.

notpushkin11mo ago

For technical users too. I always make a dedicated account for each phone (if I have to).

But then again I would likely opt out of Hangouts, so it’s not a problem.

ZakOP11mo ago

It's possible to use Android as bundled with a Pixel device without a Google account, but it's a hassle because you can't use Play Store. You can use Aurora Store as an anonymous client, F-Droid for open source apps, APKs from download sites, or the like if you're so inclined, but all of those add significant effort or unreliability.

notpushkin11mo ago

I’m actually using Aurora and F-Droid. The only reason I have a Google account on my phone is for the Wallet (though it doesn’t work for me anyway :’)

(And to be honest, things were working much smoother for me when I was on microG [0].)

[0]: https://microg.org/

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prmoustache11mo ago

simfree11mo ago

I think the concept of a user having an existing Gmail account if they aren't in the Google ecosystem is a bit of hubris.

There are many people I run across who bypassed the whole Gmail and Google Workspace ecosystems and have rolled along merrily with me.com and other email providers.

It's not a given that users will have bothered to register for a Google account unless they grew up in the Bay Area after a certain time period.

Wind back the clock to when Google tried to roll out Hangouts and the Gmail penetration rate was even lower among the non-Android users out there.

ZakOP11mo ago

This is all anecdotal of course. Maybe it wouldn't have worked, but how quickly they gave up was weird.

RestlessMind11mo ago

fooker11mo ago

> Search worked magically

Funny because now it doesn't. It routinely fails to surface emails that exist.

ZakOP11mo ago

I didn't intend a comparison between Gmail and Hangouts, just to say a whole lot of people already had the required account.

chgs11mo ago

I remember laughing with colleagues as the first edition of the evening standard came in with the 1G gmail on the front page. I remember the exact location I saw it too.

couldn’t believe they had fallen for an April fools.

But that was a limited time window when gmail massively outweighed the 10-20mbit of things like hotmail with effectively unlimited storage.

lmm11mo ago

> If you were using an Android phone, you were probably already logged in to a Google account.

notpushkin11mo ago

For technical users too. I always make a dedicated account for each phone (if I have to).

But then again I would likely opt out of Hangouts, so it’s not a problem.

ZakOP11mo ago

notpushkin11mo ago

I’m actually using Aurora and F-Droid. The only reason I have a Google account on my phone is for the Wallet (though it doesn’t work for me anyway :’)

(And to be honest, things were working much smoother for me when I was on microG [0].)

[0]: https://microg.org/

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse