Google has launched their much awaited messaging app Google Allo for Android and iOS. There are already many popular cross-platform chat applications like WhatsApp, Facebook Messanger, Hike, WeChat, Hangout etc. so how the Google Allo is different from those chat/messaging apps?
With the Allo, Google is trying to make their presence among apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messanger, WeChat, Hike & Viber etc. which is not going to easy for Google and Google know it, hence Google tried something different with Google Allo and that is Google Assistant and Incognito Chat.
Google has integrated personal assistant short of personal AI like “Google Now” which surfaces answers to questions and makes suggestions directly within your chat window. You can call the Google Assistant in any conversation just by adding @google with your query, and Google Assistant will come up with search result right away in the same chat window.
The smart response feature and Google Assistant bot are currently working in only English language, Google might enable other languages in later updates.
Incognito Chat is another feature which is making Google Allo different from WhatsApp and other chat/messaging apps. When you starting new chat the Allo will show you an option whether you want to start a group chat, incognito chat or Google assistant, using incognito chat your messages will be secured at device level as well, When someone sends you a message, Google will hide the sender’s name in the notification that pops up on your phone.
There’s also a way to erase chat history by setting the expiration anywhere from five seconds to one week; The user can set the different expiry time for each message. This feature will definitely be helpful to share more private data over chat and you need to worry about clearing your conversations every time.
Apart from Google Assistant, It also does the things you expect from a messaging app:- sends pictures, lets you share fun stickers, works for group chats, and so on. If for some reason you are bored with widely-used chat apps out there today, maybe Allo’s unique features will appeal to you.
I haven’t spent much time on Google Allo but initial experience is really very impressive, and yeah you should definitely give it a try. If I compare Google Allo with other similar apps then there are lots of fine-tuning needs to be done to make users switch from other messaging apps to Gooogle Allo, since it’s still in starting phase we can expect many more feature and lots of improvement in existing features, then maybe someday we will ask our friends to move to Google Allo.
Download the Google Allo app from Google Play Store and Apple App Store
