Say ‘ALLO’
Google is rolling out today its’ long anticipated AI-powered messaging app. The app was demonstrated at Google’s 2016 I/O conference with many features like end-to-end encryption, private conversations and integrated AI to improve your messaging experience. As promised Google has made Allo available for download in many regions by the end of the summer. If the app is not available in your region yet you can simply register at Google playstore to let them know that you would like to get a notification when the app becomes available for you too.
What to expect
You don’t need a Google account to sing up and just like other messaging apps all you need to begin chatting is your phone number.
After you begin using Allo, it is natural that not many friends of yours are going to be on that messaging app yet. That’s why Google allows you to use Allo to send SMS messages to people from your contacts list. If and when they decide to join Allo too, more features will automatically become available in your chats.
Just like almost any other messaging app out there, Allo offers a variety of (limited for the moment) basic features like stickers, emojis, writing on photos and emphasizing text by adjusting its’ size. Sadly, for many of us, there aren’t any GIFS available just yet. It’s certain that Google will be adding some more basic features in the feature.
What is special
Stickers, emojis and funny looking text are fine, but why should you switch to this messaging app if you already have all that in your current app? The answer lies in encryption, private messaging and of course AI.
There is nothing to say about encryption other than that it is necessary for messaging apps and FINALY someone did it!
A very cool feature that Allo offers is its’ Incognito mode. If you don’t wish for your conversations to be stored in Google’s servers you can simply go “under cover” and start chatting in private messaging groups. You can even determine when the chat “expires”, meaning that you can set up the life-span of your messages after of which they delete themselves.
Finally, Allo’s AI assistant is what makes the app shine. Google has managed to integrate its’ AI into a messaging app, which is amazing if you ask me. You can straight up chat with your Google assistant to get to know each other better in order to offer you more helpful assistance in the future. You can even use the assistant while you chat with other people simply by typing @google followed by your query.
Google’s AI assistant does a great job in predicting what you are about to say next too. It appears to be more efficient than any other assistant out there. In some cases, it can even understand photos. For example, when you receive a photo of a dog or cat from your friend, it will most likely understand it and suggest the appropriate answer.
Some things to keep in mind
It’s too early to come to any conclusions regarding the app so it’s up to you to decide whether you are switching messaging apps or not. Keep in mind that Google’s AI assistant is in “Preview Edition”, meaning that you will probably come across some bugs while using it.
Allo is coming to iPhone too. Its’ iOS version will soon be available in app stores around the world.