What does this app’s presence mean for Google’s larger mobile messaging strategy? We wish we could tell you, but for the moment its intentions are quite opaque. ![]() ![]() With KitKat, Hangouts took the place of the old Messaging app, but now it looks like Google’s reversing course, and this new Messenger is very much a pure SMS/MMS client. Messenger almost feels like a step backwards from Google’s recent push to bring ALL your instant messaging – whether that’s straight-up IMs or old text messages – under the control of Hangouts heck, even Google Voice is slowly seeing itself being swallowed-up by Hangouts. Some of that involves updates to existing apps – nothing out of the ordinary for one of Google’s “update Wednesdays” – but this week the company also sees fit to break ground on a new (or reincarnated old) one, quietly releasing the stand-alone Messenger app. Pry yourself away from all the Android 5.0 update stuff for a moment, and you’ll notice quite a bit of additional software news happening today with Google and Android.
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