• Allo messenger can send your search history to the interlocutor. Google Allo is here! The first review of the new messenger Hello google set up the Internet

    Allo is one of the most anticipated programs this fall. Numerous insiders fueled interest in this messenger with rumors about its extraordinary functions and artificial intelligence, which is one of the key components of Allo.

    Let's see how this looks in practice.

    After installing the program, you will need to register. This is done using a verification SMS message. Thus, Allo is tied to your phone number, and not to your Google account. During the registration process, you must select a nickname and profile picture.

    After that, we get to the main screen of the program, where all our dialogs should be displayed. So far, of course, there is nothing but a few hints about using Allo.


    When you press the button to create a new message, quite predictably, a prompt appears to select a contact. We draw attention here to the possibility of conducting group and secret chats.

    But the most interesting feature of the new messenger is Google Assistant - a special bot that is designed to answer any of your questions. He understands the appeal both in English and in Russian.


    The answers of this bot are based, of course, on the Google search engine, which extracts information from the Web and presents it directly in the messenger in a simple and convenient form. Looks extremely cool and promising. It seems to me that it is this function that will become the killer feature of Allo.

    You will be able to download the new Allo messenger very soon in the app catalogs for iOS and Android. Although the world premiere took place today, in some regions the program may become available a little later. Apple gadget users just have to wait, and Android owners go

    The new Google text messaging app was first revealed at the annual Google I/O 2016 conference. With the new Google Assistant virtual assistant and a host of other cool features, it was easily the most anticipated app of the year. But did the messenger live up to these expectations? More on this later in the article.

    First start

    Registration in the Allo application exactly repeats similar actions in another messenger from Google -. All that is required of you is to indicate your phone number, to which the registration confirmation code will be sent. The next step is to configure Allo. This is a standard procedure where you will be asked to enter a username and take a profile photo. Please note that the username is not a login. The only identifier by which your interlocutors can find and contact you is your phone number.

    After registration, you can immediately start a conversation. Allo automatically analyzes and sorts your contacts. Priority is given to those who have the application installed. It is worth saying that the audience of Allo at the start turned out to be much larger than that of the video messenger Duo. Users who do not have the application can be sent an invitation via SMS. At the same time, many foreign resources wrote that owners of Android devices can receive messages from Allo users, even if they do not have this messenger installed. In this case, a notification is sent to the phone, which allows you to see some of the text information. Message transmission is allegedly possible due to Google Play notifications. To be honest, I personally could not perform such a trick - the application completely refuses to send a message if the phone number is not registered in the Allo database. Perhaps this is due to some regional restrictions, or Google has simply already “closed shop”.

    Interface

    The first actions in the application immediately make it clear that Allo and Duo were developed in pairs. The main emphasis in these two messengers is on minimalism. In both programs, the same details can be traced in the interface: bright colors, a contact and search bar. The main screen of the application, which displays the history of correspondence, contains the only control element - a large button at the bottom of the screen, which opens the list of contacts for conversation. By its specifics, Allo has slightly more advanced features. Therefore, the application has a side panel that provides access to the user profile, blocked contacts and program settings.

    Unlike Duo, Allo text messenger automatically links your profile to your Google account. This is necessary to synchronize the history of correspondence, group chats, as well as the integration of a virtual assistant, which we will discuss in more detail below. If you do not need synchronization, you can disable your Google account - the program works fine without it. In the application settings, it is possible to activate the automatic download of photos and videos, set your own ringtone for notifications and unregister your phone number. By the way, a little advice for those who later decide to completely abandon the messenger - first of all, do not forget to remove your phone number from the Allo database.

    Key Features

    Expectations from the Allo application were so high that it seemed that Google simply had to release some kind of innovative solution. But in practice, Allo is just another messaging application, which in essence not only does not differ from other text messengers, but also incorporates existing features. You can chat with friends in both individual and group chats, send your location, voice and video messages (WhatsApp), use trendy stickers (Viber), draw on photos (Snapchat), resize messages (iMessage).

    Even in small details, Allo copies the popular WhatsApp messenger the most. Take at least the marks under the messages (one tick - delivered, two - read), the interface for recording, sending and deleting a voice message, pop-up windows for performing certain actions, and much more.

    One of the key features of Allo is the ability to chat in incognito mode. In a hidden chat, no one except you and your interlocutor has access to messages. Even the Google Assistant cannot be used in this mode. To ensure even greater security, each of the chat participants has the right to set a time limit (from 5 seconds to 1 week), after which all messages will be deleted without warning. Moreover, you can turn off the timer or change its duration during the conversation - the corresponding marker with a notification will separate your messages. There is such an opportunity in Snapchat, but in my opinion, in Allo it is implemented more conveniently.

    Google Assistant

    Even during the presentation of the Allo application, the main emphasis was placed on the new virtual assistant Google Assistant, with which Google associates the future developments of its Android operating system. In fact, this is a more "human" version of Google Now. The assistant is the first person to meet you, start the conversation and offer you help by talking about his abilities. The idea with the virtual assistant was to provide the user with the necessary information as easily as possible, as well as to offer him various services in the application more easily.

    For a virtual interlocutor in Allo, a separate chat was allocated. The assistant understands commands (mostly in English so far), searches for information on the Internet and can perform various actions on the device. For example, you can ask him what the weather is like now, what films are shown in the cinema, or how CSKA played. Google Assistant can easily translate individual words or phrases, set an alarm, set a timer, and even play simple games with you.

    In some cases, the understanding between the user and the assistant is much better than with Google Now. A virtual assistant can understand what is required of him in one word and this pleases, but on the other hand, the assistant inherited some straightforwardness from his predecessor and in some places stubbornly shows search results for a question or command.

    Another “smart” feature of the Allo messenger is predictive answers or, in other words, templates for answers to various questions. At the time of testing the application, this feature for Russian-speaking users was also not fully implemented. Answer options only appeared in personal chat with the Google Assistant and only in English. Although English-speaking users confirm that predictive answers appear in any chat and even in the notification window in Android 7.0 Nougat.

    The imperfection of the "smart" concept of the messenger may also be due to the fact that the Google Assistant service is still in the preliminary version. In particular, some of its features are not available for our region. For example, the assistant does not yet know how to conduct a conversation in Russian, although he understands many words and commands in Russian. Apparently, he can do this thanks to the built-in translation service.

    Confidentiality

    Many popular messaging apps today provide end-to-end encryption. This means that your messages are not stored on the server, only on the devices on which the conversation took place. During the announcement of Allo, a lot of big words were said specifically about encrypting messages using the Signal open source protocol used in the application of the same name. As it turned out, Google does provide message encryption in its messenger, but only in incognito mode. Later, Google said that all messages will still be stored on the company's servers until Allo users decide to delete them themselves. This need is due to the Google Assistant, which uses this data to provide more accurate information. Who knows, maybe this is how Google wants to serve targeted in-app ads in the future.

    Flaws

    Perhaps the main drawback of the messenger is the lack of synchronization between devices. You will not be able to use Allo on multiple devices at the same time with the same phone number. At the same time, you can specify an additional phone number for registration and install the application on your tablet without any problems.

    Allo also has an issue with the web client. More precisely, it simply does not exist, unlike Telegram, Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, which have already acquired desktop or web versions. Even WhatsApp has somehow found a solution to this problem by allowing its users to use the service on a PC.

    Voice and video messages, photos are, of course, great. But why does Google, with its colossal cloud technology, deprive its users of the ability to share other types of files. Take Telegram as an example, which not only allows you to attach various files to messages, but also provides each user with a personal cloud space for storing them.

    Eventually

    Clearly, Google's new product has become the most highly anticipated and most overrated app in recent memory. And this is not so much the fault of the company as experts, observers and authors of IT resources, who artificially escalated the situation even before the release of the application, which actually caused high expectations among ordinary users.

    Allo's main advantage over its competitors should be integration with the Google Assistant, and the application itself was supposed to become a smart text messenger. However, for this, Google still needs to "finish" its new virtual assistant and integrate the rest of the company's services to make the application the central messaging service for its ecosystem. In the meantime, this is another application that is difficult to find positioning in the company of other heavyweight messengers.

    While Apple device owners are quite comfortable with iMessage pre-installed, most Android users have also already decided on their messaging programs. Even the vice president of Google himself admitted that he does not yet have a clear strategy for the development of new messengers. So who will choose Allo in the end?


    There are three things you can look at endlessly: burning fire, running water, and how Google is trying to make a successful social service. Google Allo is America's number three attempt at the social messaging market.

    Google's tenacity can only be envied. The company could have bought a conditional Twitter a long time ago (provided that regulatory authorities allow it) and build its own social product on its basis, but instead, Google is trying to come up with its own bicycle over and over again. The result of all these experiments is the same - new graves in the Google virtual cemetery. And something tells me that for Google Allo it is already worth reserving a place there today.


    Google Product Graveyard

    But first things first. Google Allo was announced this summer at the Google I/O developer conference. The app will be available for iOS and Android. It is expected to appear in the Apple App Store and Google Play catalogs worldwide soon, while the app is only available in the US. To try out Allo on Android right here and now, without waiting for a global release, you can use the installation file that enthusiasts have already leaked to the network.

    Google Allo can only run on one device at a time. Therefore, you can safely forget about using this messenger if you have several actively used gadgets. It is noteworthy that the entire message history, although stored in the cloud, will not be available when you change the device. If you log into the messenger under your account from another smartphone, you will see a white screen in front of you. It's very nice to see this from a company that is trying its best to promote cloud storage.

    The application has already been translated into Russian, although officially it is not yet available in Russia. I was annoyed that during the initial account setup, I could not upload a photo for my profile from the smartphone gallery to the cover, I had to take a photo from the camera. I attribute this to the peculiarities of Meizu smartphones, since others did not have such problems, but still an unpleasant bug.

    What does Google Allo offer the user:

    – Traditional chats with each other. Regular and secret.
    – Group chats between multiple users.
    – Chat with the Google Assistant bot.

    No channels, no general chats where anyone can join via a link, no third-party bots - Google Allo says hello from 2014, when text messengers were used only to communicate with friends. Like the Google Duo app, the service automatically shows all users who have already installed Allo on their devices. If a person has not installed a new Google messenger, then he can be sent an SMS with a proposal to do so. Speaking of SMS, Allo does not replace the standard classic text messaging app. On Android, even Facebook Messenger has already learned to do this, and Google still offers us two separate applications.

    Now about the correspondence itself. Google introduced several collections of stickers for the launch of Google Allo. I really hope that Google will allow third-party authors to publish their sticker builds here, because the standard ones from Google look terrible, but this is a matter of taste. Where are my cats from VKontakte?

    The messenger provides a standard set for information exchange: sending voice messages, photos and videos, geolocation. Features that others do not have include the ability to draw something directly on the photo that you send to the interlocutor, as well as a resizable message text that allows you to convey intonation.

    The main distinguishing feature of Allo is a text assistant, which can be accessed in any chat by writing "@", or by contacting him directly in a separate correspondence. He can "google" without leaving the Google Allo interface, show the weather, the results of sports matches, and also search for places on Google Maps. Thus, in a chat with a person, you can choose a joint restaurant or cinema to visit in the evening. Which, in theory, is probably convenient, but in practice no one will use it.

    Potentially Google Assistant looks very promising. This is an intelligent system that, based on machine learning, will constantly improve its abilities. For example, now an assistant can translate text from one language into another. The more people who use this functionality, the more accurately it will translate. One day it may completely break all boundaries on the Internet. Imagine that at any time you can easily communicate with any person on Earth, regardless of what language he speaks offline.

    But this is a distant future, but for now, the only useful thing that Google Assistant can do is play tic-tac-toe with you, “guess the movie by emoji” and a number of other simple games. All this is funny, but the text messenger you open is not for this.

    Bottom line, Google has made another messenger that there is no reason to use. Yes, the company turned out to be a very beautiful application, but the Google+ client looks just fine, does anyone have it on their phone? Well, anyone? No? That's what I'm talking about.

    Google Assistant looks interesting, but it clearly has no place in general correspondence. Frequently chatting with another person, you need to go back through the chat to find an important message. Communication with Google Assistant requires a lot of clarifying explanations, which is why the volume of correspondence increases significantly. Moreover, it is problematic to work with him together, and most often it is still done by one person. How this differs from opening a browser and ordinary Google is not clear to me. I am glad that at least Google did not forget to fasten the normal search for the application, which can search by name and keywords.

    At Google I/O, they promised that Allo would become one of the most secure messengers on the market, which would use special encryption algorithms, but even here something went wrong with Google. According to The Verge, Google Allo will send all your correspondence to Google servers and store it there. Google decided not to automatically delete the data, as it would prevent the Google Assistant from analyzing it. Choosing between intelligent systems and user data privacy, Google chose the former. Even incognito mode will save your data. Correspondence will still be stored on Google servers, but already encrypted with a specific key. This data can always be decrypted if the court orders Google to provide this key, which is a regular practice.

    Summarizing all of the above, Google Allo is no better than the existing products of competitors, and in many ways even inferior to them. It’s hard for me to imagine that I ask someone to install Google Allo for correspondence, arguing that this application has an intelligent bot from Google that will read everything that we write and send it to the servers of an American company in order to ... What would what? Looking for a restaurant together? No thanks Google. Keep this app.

    Google has just introduced a new messenger - Allo, which is very different from all the others because Google Assistant is integrated into it. Although, Telegram has bots!

    1. The name is clearly better than Hangouts.

    2. Drag the send key up and down to change the font size. Well, like, instead of shouting with caps, now we will shout in the chat in a more civilized way!

    3. It's a smart messenger. You can chat with Google Assistant in this chat and ask him, for example, to book a table in a restaurant. How soon this will be with us is not clear. You can ask to see a picture, find out the course and generally ask any question. Cool, like chat, when speaking out loud is uncomfortable or impossible. You can even play a mini-game with him, like “Guess the Movie”.

    4. All messages are encrypted. E2E reserved. All notifications are also protected. Google is telling you!

    5. Google Duo service is also presented - video calls. Competitor of Face Time.

    6. Both services will be available for Android and iOS this summer.

    Do you think it will fly? Or will it fly, like all Google messengers before it? I don’t understand why they were separated, why not do everything in one application?

    If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

    Read more: