Allo: How does Google's new messenger compare with WhatsApp and co.
Google has launched a new messenger in the form of Allo. This raises the question of which messenger is the best. The answer: Well... it depends.
Google Allo is set to reinvent Messenger, Google hopes. Android fans hope that Allo will make all other messengers superfluous. What is Allo anyway, the rest of the world wonders.
Let's start at the beginning. Allo has a commercial. It looks like this:
Although Allo is not yet officially available in Switzerland, the digitec editorial team has already been able to test the app. The app currently only speaks English, but as we are fluent in this language, this was not a major obstacle.
First impression: Allo looks very smart. Compared to WhatsApp, the interface feels modern and light. At first it was a little bare and sterile, but after a brief conversation with the editorial colleague and sending the first images, it becomes clear why the interface is a deliberate understatement: the content sent takes up most of the screen
Content is written in capital letters. Emojis are not splashed on the screen, but dominate the mobile screen. That's quite pleasant. The chat font can be made larger and smaller, which is probably intended to simulate loud talking or shouting.
Assistant as a strong feature
By far the strongest argument in favour of Allo is the Google Assistant. In a chat with my editorial colleague Philipp Rüegg, I was able to easily integrate search results for lunch, which greatly shortened the "Where to?" question.
Okay, that's geodata and information from the phone book. This is no problem for Google and its powerful data correlation engine. So we continue testing. Does the app understand context? Yes, it does. After asking what the weather is like in Zurich today, the question "And what about the weekend?" is enough to get the nameless assistant to display the weather data for the coming days. The questions to the assistant can be asked both verbally and in writing.
The weather is okay, but maybe we want to go to the cinema. Let's ask the assistant about the films. That also works perfectly. Google grabs the location, time, date and film title and shows us when and where we could see which film. So that users can find out more, Allo displays suggestions at the bottom of the screen after each enquiry as to what else might be of interest. For example, the actors, the budget of the film or how tall the leading actress is.
Private data in the private chat
The Assistant is not only built into conversations but can also be used as a conversation partner. This is where Allo gets a little confusing. What's the point of this chat channel? The assistant can access private data and show me photos I've taken, but so can the Photos app. Allo asks me about my preferences, such as my favourite film, and can respond to them contextually, but what benefit do I get from this as a user?
Neither my favourite film nor pictures from my personal photo stream can be displayed in the chat with friends. I can attach pictures manually, but there is no practical function similar to showing search results. This makes the private chat with the assistant kind of strange and seems to be just a game.
The messenger comparison
The question on the minds of smartphone fans is: Can Allo replace other messengers? The answer to this question can begin with "It depends...". Allo is a messenger that can do some things, but not others. Depending on the user's preferences, Allo may or may not be the right choice. Personally, I'm a fan when a chat app has a web client. Other users don't care, but thousands of users complain that Allo has no SMS integration and seems decidedly unambitious.
The easiest way is to compare Allo directly with other messengers.
Allo is exciting in the context of integrative search on the Internet, as it is what made Google what it is today. Allo is currently only available as a preview. According to rumours, there will be a major update with the launch of the new Google phone, which will probably be released under the name Pixel. <p
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