[Update: Now back, Duo, Android Messages for Web too] With one foot in the grave, Google’s Allo is currently down for most users

Ben Schoon | Dec 5 2018 - 11:20 am PT

Just a couple of hours ago, we reported that Google is preparing to pull the plug on its messaging service Allo. Now, Allo has gone down for many users across the globe.

Reports have been hitting DownDetector as well as Twitter and, in our own testing, Allo is completely down at the moment. Messages aren’t sending and even chatting with the Google Assistant within the app doesn’t seem to work. It’s unclear exactly what’s going on, but it seems possible that a flood of users going to check the app given today’s news caused server issues.

Alternatively, it could be that Google pulled the plug prematurely, but that seems unlikely. Most likely, Allo would see a “wind-down” period before it dies completely, similar to the consumer version of Google+.

Either way, Allo is down for users right now, and that doesn’t shine a great light on the limited time it seemingly has left. Hilariously, one user actually caught the outage while they were sending messages to tell other Allo users about the service’s demise.

Update: Shortly after Allo’s outage was noted, it’s also been confirmed that Google Duo and Android Messages’ web client is also down at the moment. Messages for Web shows previews of existing conversations but doesn’t connect to your phone. Duo will let you attempt a call, but it won’t go through on the recipient’s end.

Update 2: It seems services are being partially restored. Allo is still struggling a bit, but text messages are sending and Duo calls are back as well.

Developing…