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After the shutdown of Allo, it was only a matter of time before Google took the messaging app's few good ideas and implemented them in its Messages platform. The most important of these, Assistant's integration in chats, was inevitably going to make the jump, and today Google confirmed that the feature will go live in Messages over the coming months for English users.
Google's fling with Allo is officially coming to an end, and as we've seen with many other products in the past, that usually means it's time to grab your data and go. A new update to the Allo app is rolling out today that will make this much easier. Using a simple tool, you'll be able to export your chat logs and any media for safe keeping before Allo closes its doors for good at the end of March 2019.
There has been a whirlwind of rumors around Google's messaging strategy over the past few days. First we heard that Hangouts might be shutting down, with a Google product lead refuting the claims, then a report came out that Allo is also shutting down. Google has now published a blog post to set the record straight, and it seems the rumors were mostly true.
According to a report from 9to5Google, Allo's days may be numbered. Details are admittedly sparse, but a source communicating with 9to5Google's Stephen Hall said that Google is (or was) expected to announce a shutdown of the messaging app "soon," though an additional delay could be imposed in the wake of the related news surrounding the expected "Hangouts classic" shutdown/migration.
Allo updates are starting to roll out, but as the trend has been going, there's not much to see in the main interface for this update. However, tearing down the APK has turned up signs of good things to come. Support for using Google accounts to find contacts and start conversations is going to be pretty robust as hints suggest we'll be able to sign in multiple accounts. There's also a new camera effect listed, a little activity around the scene generation feature, and a hint that the behavior of bots may by changing.
A new version of Allo is rolling out just in time for the holidays. If you're thinking about singing Christmas carols or wishing somebody a happy new year, things are going to get a little more interesting thanks to the latest update. Your audio messages will now be automatically transcribed to text, so people can decide when to listen and have some idea of what they're going to be hearing. There's also a clue that may suggest threaded conversations will be supported. We're still poking around for other changes, but let us know in the comments if you stumble across anything else.
A new version of Allo is making the rounds, and again with an evening release on a Friday. So far, no new features have been uncovered in this update, but we're still poking around for something to reveal itself. In the meantime, there's plenty of material to examine under the microscope of a teardown. We can see that contacting people through their Google account may be coming soon. Allo's upcoming camera effects are evolving as two old ones may have been removed, a new one turns up, and they're all getting new icons. And that's not all.
Google began rolling out version 23 of Allo yesterday. No feature changes have jumped out at us yet, but there's plenty of material for a teardown. There are more details about the upcoming camera effects for selfies and selfie clips, a new type of attachment, custom support for contact cards shared between people, and more.
Google Allo is loaded with quirky and unusual features, many of which fall outside of the norm for traditional instant messengers. While a lot of people write off things like selfie stickers as distractions, they serve to give users new ways to make their chat experience into whatever they want it to be. Based on a video and screenshots we've obtained from a person testing preview features in Allo, it looks like the app will soon introduce a feature called 'Activities' with the ability to launch miniature shared apps that everybody can interact with.
Releasing an app update just before the start of the weekend is always a bit risky, but here we have an update to Allo v22 that shows that's just how those developers play the game. On the other hand, this looks like a pretty calm update; the only thing jumping out so far is a streamlined UI for setting up solo and group chats. A teardown also brings up some clues about enhancements coming in the future, including transcriptions for audio messages and new camera effects.
These days, almost every service with any kind of social element includes a place for a profile picture. Most apps will also give users an opportunity to crop the image down before locking it in, that way you don't have to break out a photo editor just to center yourself and cut out other people from the shot. Most people probably never noticed it, but this little convenience feature wasn't available in Allo, at least not until now.
A new version of Allo hit this morning, but that's not nearly as important as the features that were remotely activated by Google in the last day or two. Two features we've been expecting have gone live: Web Stickers and @mentions in group chats. But just as those teardown topics make the transition into live features, the latest update does bring some new things to look out for in the future, including group management and permanent bans, plus a new way to record selfies.
It seems like Allo is slowing down a bit as the updates are no longer packed with an assortment of new features on each release. Instead, we're starting to see more things that spend some time in the teardowns before going live. An examination of today's update to v19 hasn't turned up anything notable in the live app yet, but a teardown does promise a few smallish tidbits like Firefox support for the web client and a camera effect that will probably place a sweet dairy treat on your head.
Language is officially no longer a barrier for Allo users, message translation is now rolling out to users everywhere. First discovered back in July with a teardown of v14, translation can be done by long-pressing a message and tapping the Google Translate icon appearing in the title bar at the top. You can also hide the translation with another long-press and a tap on an undo icon.
It's hard to imagine writing about Allo without talking about stickers, and as the title suggests, this post isn't going to change that. Version 17 just started rolling out, but it looks to be basically the same on the surface. At least no significant changes have turned up for me. However, a teardown of the apk shows that there are even more sticker-related improvements on the horizon.
Google's newest messenger app, Allo, was released about a year ago. The app's momentum dropped shortly after release, but that hasn't stopped Google from continuing to improve it. At long last, Allo has gained a web client, but has it been worth the wait?
Say what you will about Allo, good or bad, but don't suggest that the developers aren't busy with new features. Each update typically brings some change to the interface, and sometimes it happens even between updates. The latest example is a new edit button that now appears at the top right of images and custom stickers (not regular stickers) in the chat window. It can be used to quickly take an image from chat, make changes, and post it for others in the conversation to see.
Allo is actually a really nice application, but there are simply too many missing features for me to use it in any meaningful capacity. One of those missing features is a desktop client, which was first revealed by Nick Fox (Google VP of Communications) in February. In May, he tweeted that the web client was still "a month or two from public release." It's been about a month and a half since that statement, but the Allo desktop client is still a ways off.
Google Allo looks to be garnering some love today with the addition of document and file sharing support. It has been six months since Allo's initial release on Android where the lack of file sharing was a gaping hole in the app's features. While today we thankfully see this issue addressed, better late than never is something many of us Google fans will be all too familiar with.