Allo is an instant messaging mobile app developed by Google. It was announced at Google I/O on May 18, 2016 and launched on September 21, 2016.The app is available on Android and iOS.
When Allo was announced at Google’s I/O conference earlier this year, the messaging app was presented as a step forward for privacy. Alongside the end-to-end-encrypted Incognito Mode, the Allo team talked about bold new message retention practices, storing messages only transiently rather than indefinitely.
But with the release of the app today, Google is backing off on some of those features.
The version of Allo rolling out today will store all non-incognito messages by default — a clear change from Google’s earlier statements that the app would only store messages transiently and in non-identifiable form. The records will now persist until the user actively deletes them, giving Google default access to a full history of conversations in the app. Users can also avoid the logging by using Allo’s Incognito Mode, which is still fully end-to-end encrypted and unchanged from the initial announcement.
Like Hangouts and Gmail, Allo messages will still be encrypted between the device and Google servers, and stored on servers using encryption that leaves the messages accessible to Google’s algorithms.
According to Google, the change was made to improve the Allo assistant’s smart reply feature, which generates suggested responses to a given conversation. Like most machine learning systems, the smart replies work better with more data. As the Allo team tested those replies, they decided the performance boost from permanently stored messages was worth giving up privacy benefits of transient storage.
The decision will also have significant consequences for law enforcement access to Allo messages. By default, Allo messages will now be accessible to lawful warrant requests, the same as message data in Gmail and Hangouts and location data collected by Android. The messages might not be there if the user had previously deleted them, or if the conversations took place in Incognito Mode — but in most cases, they will be. That leaves Google with much less danger of the kind of legal showdown Apple faced in San Bernardino and WhatsApp currently faces in Brazil.
It’s here folks! The most anticipated Google app of the year, Allo, is finally available in the Play Store, at least for the lucky few who can already install it.
Allo was announced at Google I/O and the promise was we would get to use it by the end of the summer. Google just made the deadline. Allo follows Duo, the simple video chat app that Google released a few weeks ago.
Like Duo, Allo is tied to your phone number. That means you won’t need to sign up for an account (yay!), but also that it won’t work on desktops (boo!) at least for now.
Allo is packed with lovely little features like stickers and the ability to draw on the screen, but the really cool thing about is Assistant, Google’s new intelligent… assistant. Think of Assistant as the smarter, more talkative successor of Google Now. You will be able to ping Assistant by typing “@google” and from there you can give it queries like “how’s the weather” or “find the best tacos near me.” In theory, you should get fast, accurate answers, just as you would if you had a real life personal assistant.
Google today launched Google Allo, a messaging app for Android and iOS with Smart Reply and Google Assistant. 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 — like its cousin, “the app will be live worldwide in the next few days.” Keep in mind, however, that both Smart Reply and Google Assistant are English-only for now, with “more languages coming soon.”
Allo is Google’s attempt to create a “smart” messaging app, which helps you not only stay in touch with your contacts, but plan and find information as well. It is supposed to “keep your conversation going, by providing assistance when you need it” as well as let you “say more and do more right within your chats.” In other words, Google is hoping Allo will grow into a platform, like many messaging apps already have.
Unlike Duo, which only requires a phone number to start, Allo also uses your Google account. You can disconnect your account from Allo, however, and the only difference is the app won’t be able to tap into your personal information in your other Google products like Calendar, Gmail, and Photos.
Allo, along with video calling app Duo, was unveiled at Google’s I/O 2016 developer conference and made available in private beta, with a promise for a summer launch. Duo was released last month and now Allo has made it in the nick of time: the last day of summer is September 21. Both apps are coming out of the Communications product team formed almost two years ago under vice president of product management, Nick Fox.
Fox explained that Duo launched ahead of Allo because development for the former actually started first. Duo has already seen 10 million downloads on Android, but Fox wouldn’t share how many downloads it has seen on iOS, stating merely that the team is “happy with progress on both Android and iOS.”
Fox declared we are “on the cusp of the next phase of innovation in messaging” before diving into what makes Allo stand out.
Smart Reply
Smart Reply is a feature that Google first debuted for Inbox, its Gmail successor, back in November 2015. In short, Allo often offers suggestions for what to reply based on the context of the conversation (up to three suggestions). Smart Reply tries to learn each time you use it, offering responses for texts as well as for photos.
Fox called Smart Reply “additive not reductive,” comparing it to spell check. That’s a decent parallel, though we’d argue the feature has a long way to go before it can be as accurate and effective as spell check.
Smart Reply means you can have whole conversations by just tapping on suggestions, though the resulting chats don’t quite sound right. In every language, everyone speaks a little differently, and I don’t just mean when looking at factors such as age, region, or education. Every group of friends has their own slang, and this is where Allo is meant to shine: It’s supposed to learn not just from which suggestions you tap, but also from what you type. That said, the personalization is limited for now as Google is still refining the algorithms behind the feature.
Photos, Emojis, Stickers, and Incognito Mode
This is probably the most boring part of Allo, but messaging apps nowadays need to have a slew of non-text options. For example, Google partnered with independent artists and studios around the world to create over 25 custom sticker packs. Allo tries to stand out by letting you make emojis and text larger or smaller in size by simply dragging the send button up or down. Furthermore, you can write on photos before you send them, à la Snapchat.
Allo encrypts chats, but not by default. Instead, you can opt to chat in Incognito mode (like Smart Reply was borrowed from Inbox, Incognito comes from Chrome). Messages sent in Incognito mode have end-to-end encryption, discreet notifications (they won’t show up on your lockscreen), and message expiration (anyone in the chat can set how long messages will last).
Just like how in Chrome you need to fire up a new Incognito tab, you need to start a new Incognito chat to get these benefits. Unlike Chrome, however, closing the chat does not mean you lose it — the conversation stays around until you explicitly delete it, and even then it’s still there for whoever you were talking to. While the upside is more security, the downside is you can’t use features like Smart Reply and Google Assistant, because those features by design require context and tracking what you type.
Google Assistant
Allo is not just the first place that the new Google Assistant is available to the public, but this is the “first time you’re able to have conversation with Google,” Fox pointed out. It’s like chatting with Google Search and Google Now in one. You ask the Assistant questions, and it tries its hardest to help you out directly in the chat, whether it’s to get an address, pick a restaurant, or just kill some time.
There are two ways to trigger Google Assistant. You can chat with it directly (it’s your first contact when you first launch Allo), or you can also bring it into any conversation by just typing @google ahead of your message.
Google recommends using Assistant to:
- Make plans with friends: You can ask for movie times and local restaurants as well as research travel destinations, flights, and hotels.
- Get answers: News, weather, traffic, sports, or more personalized results like your upcoming flight status are all just a message away — you even get updates messaged to you daily.
- Have some fun: Google Assistant can tell a joke as well as give you a list of games to play solo or with friends.
Google Assistant will be available in more Google products, like Google Home, “over the coming months.” The company envisions it “working seamlessly throughout your day at home or on the go.”
Google Assistant is neat, and has huge potential. But it’s also easy to confuse it. You can have conversation loops that make absolutely no sense.
Sometimes it’s brilliant and can accurately discern what you’re trying to get at. Other times it’s like the assistant is pressed for time and just replies withanything remotely related, which often results in a poor experience. To some extent, this is to be expected: Google Assistant is still in preview.
The messaging wars
At announcement time and at launch, many declared that Duo was Google’s answer to FaceTime. I can’t say I agree: FaceTime is limited to Apple’s platforms, iOS and OS X, which also means it works on mobile and desktop. Duo, at least at launch, is for Android and iOS, making it mobile-only. Fox told us that there are no plans to build a desktop app, though of course that could change.
As Google said last month, Allo and Duo are the company’s mobile-only messaging and video apps for consumers. Messenger for Android is all about carrier support with Rich Communication Services (RCS) and Hangouts is being repositioned for enterprise and productivity featuring desktop video conferencing.
These apps not only have to differentiate themselves from all the other messaging apps out there, but they have to also compete with Google’s own offerings. If Duo’s main unique feature is Knock Knock, Allo’s is undoubtedly Google Assistant.
Allo is basically Google’s attempt to rebuild WhatsApp from the ground up. It was built from scratch, so it’s spiffier in some ways, but again, the main draw is the “smart” functionality that is supposed to improve over time.
But frankly I’m disappointed that Google created two apps. Fox told VentureBeat that there are plans to integrate the two closer together, but only in the sense that you can jump into a Duo video call from Allo. Put another way, the closest thing to making a call using Allo is being able to send a voice message. It’s a lot to ask users to download not just one, but two new messaging apps.
The logical way forward, assuming these new apps manage to gain decent traction, is to build Duo’s video calling feature into Allo, with Knock Knock of course. Allo already lets you message through SMS with non-Allo Android users and even chat right via app preview messages through notifications, so just add Messenger’s RCS functionality and you’re good to go.
This sets the stage perfectly, assuming people are willing to use yet another messaging app, for a powerful messaging app for Android users and beyond. Allo should come bundled on all Android phones and be available for download on other platforms (iOS and whatever else Google deems worthy).
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