Australians can now get their hands on Google's latest chat app, Allo, through both the Android and iOS app store. While Allo has all of the trendy features commonly found in messaging apps these days (stickers, emojis, the ability to draw on photos), the big point of difference is integration with Google artificial intelligence.
“Google Assistant” appears as contact within Allo, and works in a similar manner to OK Google and Siri, but instead of talking, you simply write a message instead. You can ask for information such as flight status, weather forecasts, or even just answers to questions like "what is the capital of Australia?".
Allo will also provide you with pre-written responses based on the context of your conversation. If someone says "hi", Allo might suggest a reply of "Hey! How are you?" or "Hey! What's up?".
It’s worth noting that NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden has been quite critical of Google's latest messaging app amid privacy concerns. Allo will store your complete conversation history, which Google is able to access. It is however possible to delete these records.
What is #Allo? A Google app that records every message you ever send and makes it available to police upon request. https://t.co/EdPRC0G7Py
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 21, 2016
Allo does offer "incognito" messaging, with full end-to-end encryption. When using this, Google is unable to read your messages.
Much like Google's new video chat app, Duo, Allo is not linked to a Google account. Instead, you sign-up with your mobile number.
Allo is currently only available for iOS and Android devices; at present, there's no way to use Allo on a desktop PC or in a web browser.
Allo is available as a free download through Google Play and the iTunes App Store.
Alex Choros
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