At the annual I/O developer conference in April 2016,Google previewedtwo new mobile apps: a one-to-one video calling app called Duo, whichreleased in mid-August, and a messaging software called Allo, which surfaced on theApp Store this morning as a free download.
It sports features commonly found in messaging apps and includes a built-in Assistant,Google’s conversational artificial intelligence helper, an Incognito mode and more.
While Google originally promised Allo would only store messages transiently and in non-identifiable form, the firm’s had a change of heart as Allo logs all chats by default.
Google Allo offers features like stickers, smart canned responses, the ability to change the size of your text in chats, a private-messaging mode, Google Assistant and more.
Here are a few highlights:
Assistant lets you do things like book a dinner reservation, look up sports scores, settle a bet, play a game and more. Akin to the features available in Google’s Gboard iPhone keyboard, the assistant integrates with Search, Maps, YouTube and Translate.
Just add @google to your group conversation or chat one-on-one with your Assistant.
Check out the Allo teaser video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXEkoXgb4bI
Google Assistant built into Allo is currently a preview version.
Over the months, Assistant will make its way into other Google products. By the way, Assistant is initially available in English, with more languages coming soon.
Google offers some examples how Assistant might be helpful in Allo:
According to Russell Brandom of The Verge, Allo logs all chats by default and the records persist until you actively delete them, basically giving Google default access to a full history of conversations in the app.
Brandonexplains:
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.
you’re able to avoid the logging by using Allo’s Incognito mode, which enables end-to-end encryption and makes notifications more discreet. As mentioned, both Google Assistant and the Smart Reply feature are currently available in English only. Allo is available for both iOS and Android.
