USA internet giant Google launched Wednesday a smart messaging app aimed at muscling into a busy market with popular rivals such as WhatsApp and Facebook’s messenger. The smart messaging application allows users to chat with others in one-on-one and group chats. However, it’s the Google Assistant that makes the chat app different from other apps like Whatsapp, Wechat, or Telegram.
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Google chose to prioritize performance improvement from storing messages permanently over the privacy benefits that transient storage offers. So, for instance, Allo includes a Smart Reply feature that guesses what people want to say so they don’t have to type it – over time that will know more about its user and bring up better suggestions. The text-only virtual assistant of Allo is simply called Google Assistant, and it follows instructions and commands even when the user is engrossed in texting. Google promises that Smart Reply also adjusts to the user’s style and improves through time.
Before sending the photos, the users can also use stickers and scribble on them.
You can download Allo from Google Play and Apple’s App Store, though you may have to wait a bit, as this is a gradual rollout. However, there is an incognito chat option which has end-to-end encryption for your private messages. Though the Google Assistant featured in the app is a preview edition, it is enough to take down addresses, share YouTube videos and even look for a restaurant nearby.
According to Android Police, if you’ve already used WhatsApp, you will feel an eery resemblance to Allo from the first moment you try out the app.
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Currently, both Smart Reply and Google Assistant are in English-only, with “more languages coming soon”. However, “the app will be live worldwide in the next few days”, the company says.
