Back at the Google I/O 2016 conference, the company announced that it would be launching two apps later in the year, Allo - a messaging app and Duo - a video calling app like Apple's FaceTime.
Google Allo features
Google Allo is a rival to the likes of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Apple's iMessage – Allo. Allo is a new text messaging app coming to iOS and Android soon, but what makes it stand out from other messaging apps available?
The main difference is that Allo comes with machine learning built in, courtesy of the Google Assistant.
Allo is a ‘smart’ messaging app that learns how to make conversations both easier and more productive.
Google claims that its Assistant will learn how you chat over time and give you personalised answers that you’d actually use. It'll also work when asked things like if you want to go out for dinner. It will also suggest responses to photos because the Assistant can analyse the photo and its contents, understand it and suggest a response. Pretty cool, right? You can see it in action below:
You can talk directly to Google Assistant via text directly in Allo, just like Facebook's chatbots. This allows you to search for stuffs without leaving the Allo app. You can easily type “@Google” in the chat window to chat directly with Google Assistant, and it’ll provide you with search results or whatever you ask.
You can also play games with Google Assistant as shown during Google I/O.
Allo is a simple-to-use but powerful app.
Allo has an incognito mode that offers end-to-end encryption and expiring chats for ‘private’ conversations, it also has private notifications to keep people around you from looking at your messages.
You sign up with your mobile number just like WhatsApp instead of using a Google account as you would expect, this means both iOS and Android users can use the service without having to register for a Google account.
With all these features and many more I failed to mention, I think Google Allo is a welcome alternative to the likes of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
Google Duo features
Coming along side Allo is Duo. Duo is a standalone video calling app that looks to take on the likes of Skype and Apple's FaceTime. I say standalone video calling app because that’s the only thing it does – there’s no messaging function like Skype, its only purpose is for video chat.
The Duo app has a simple, clean UI and has a tiny size of 5MB, making it an attractive option for video callers.
So what makes Google's Duo app special?
There are quite a number of cool features available on the Duo app, but its key feature of Duo is speed.
Duo has a feature called Knock Knock available for only Android users(Apple boys keep flexing your FaceTime 😝).
Knock Knock shows you a live video of the person video calling you on your lock screen, You see the person calling you before you even pick the call.
Once you answer the call, the video call starts immediately with no loading screens or lag(hanging). The Duo app is incredibly fast in performance, and I think that’ll be the major selling point of the app.
Google claims that Duo will even work with unstable network connections, which is a common affliction of video calling.
According to the company, the app can automatically adjust the video and audio quality to suit whatever kind of connection you’re on, and it can maintain a call even when switching from Wi-Fi to cellular and vice versa.
Just like Allo, Google Duo works with your mobile phone number instead of a Google account.
As I said earlier, both apps are not yet ready for download but you can Pre-register for them if you want to be notified when they are available for installs.
Pre-register for Google Duo here
Both apps have been launched but would be available for downloads very soon.
While we wait for the official roll outs, what exactly is Allo and Duo, what can they do?
While we wait for the official roll outs, what exactly is Allo and Duo, what can they do?
Google Allo features
Google Allo is a rival to the likes of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Apple's iMessage – Allo. Allo is a new text messaging app coming to iOS and Android soon, but what makes it stand out from other messaging apps available?
The main difference is that Allo comes with machine learning built in, courtesy of the Google Assistant.
Allo is a ‘smart’ messaging app that learns how to make conversations both easier and more productive.
Google claims that its Assistant will learn how you chat over time and give you personalised answers that you’d actually use. It'll also work when asked things like if you want to go out for dinner. It will also suggest responses to photos because the Assistant can analyse the photo and its contents, understand it and suggest a response. Pretty cool, right? You can see it in action below:
You can talk directly to Google Assistant via text directly in Allo, just like Facebook's chatbots. This allows you to search for stuffs without leaving the Allo app. You can easily type “@Google” in the chat window to chat directly with Google Assistant, and it’ll provide you with search results or whatever you ask.
You can also play games with Google Assistant as shown during Google I/O.
Allo is a simple-to-use but powerful app.
Allo has an incognito mode that offers end-to-end encryption and expiring chats for ‘private’ conversations, it also has private notifications to keep people around you from looking at your messages.
You sign up with your mobile number just like WhatsApp instead of using a Google account as you would expect, this means both iOS and Android users can use the service without having to register for a Google account.
With all these features and many more I failed to mention, I think Google Allo is a welcome alternative to the likes of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
Google Duo features
Coming along side Allo is Duo. Duo is a standalone video calling app that looks to take on the likes of Skype and Apple's FaceTime. I say standalone video calling app because that’s the only thing it does – there’s no messaging function like Skype, its only purpose is for video chat.
The Duo app has a simple, clean UI and has a tiny size of 5MB, making it an attractive option for video callers.
So what makes Google's Duo app special?
There are quite a number of cool features available on the Duo app, but its key feature of Duo is speed.
Duo has a feature called Knock Knock available for only Android users(Apple boys keep flexing your FaceTime 😝).
Knock Knock shows you a live video of the person video calling you on your lock screen, You see the person calling you before you even pick the call.
Once you answer the call, the video call starts immediately with no loading screens or lag(hanging). The Duo app is incredibly fast in performance, and I think that’ll be the major selling point of the app.
Google claims that Duo will even work with unstable network connections, which is a common affliction of video calling.
According to the company, the app can automatically adjust the video and audio quality to suit whatever kind of connection you’re on, and it can maintain a call even when switching from Wi-Fi to cellular and vice versa.
Just like Allo, Google Duo works with your mobile phone number instead of a Google account.
As I said earlier, both apps are not yet ready for download but you can Pre-register for them if you want to be notified when they are available for installs.
- Pre-register for Google Allo here
Pre-register for Google Duo here
0 comments:
Drop your comments and share your thoughts...