Google is Taking Another Shot at Messaging with The Allo App
BY GreenBot Staff
Published 18 May 2016
With a new app called Allo, Google is taking another swing at the messaging space. It’s yet another way for users to talk with their friends. But with a few neat twists, including a smart replies feature that even works with photos. Using Allo, people can quickly reply to a conversation using artificial intelligence-driven Smart Replies lifted from its Inbox email product. That means instead of typing a reply, you can tap on bubbles that show up to suggest responses. Thanks to Google’s image recognition technology, smart Replies also works with images. So if someone sends a picture of their dog, the recipient can quickly answer with a Cute dog! Without typing it out. Google is going after a crowded market, competing against the likes of Facebook, Microsoft, and Telegram Chat. But this launch is a way to get the company’s search tools and artificial intelligence. In front of people as they’re talking with friends. Allo also supports conversations with the Assistant, which was also announced. By invoking the Assistant, you can make restaurant reservations from within a conversation without having to switch apps. On top of all that, Allo has an Incognito Mode, which activates end-to-end encryption, discreet notifications. And the ability to set messages to self-destruct after a certain period. One notable thing about the announcement is that it already has a messaging app. It’s Hangouts product that integrates with Gmail comes standard on Android phones that use Google’s services. It’s still being determined what will happen with Hangouts since Allo’s features seem to supersede much of that functionality.
Allo has yet to be available. Google says it will be coming sometime to both Android and iOS.
The Launch
Google’s Duo video app lets you see who’s calling before you pick up.
It was one of two messaging apps launched at I/O in 2016. Google also launched Duo, a video messaging app. That lets you see a video of the person calling before you answer the phone. Google says it gives you more context about a call before you pick it up. You can see if the person is smiling, for instance, or where they’re calling from. The Duo is also coming to Android and iOS.
Google ended the Allo app in March 2019 with a recommendation to users to change to Google Messages app.
