One of the big features of Allo, Google’s new messaging app that’s due to launch later this year, is the fact that it has Google Assistant backed into the app. The Google Assistant was announced at Google I/O earlier this summer, as the successor to Google Now. The Google Assistant takes all of Google’s expertise in machine learning and brings it to the masses. It’s going to be a big part of Google Home, which is their Amazon Echo competitor that’s due to launch later this year as well.
There’s already been a ton of coverage on what Allo can do, thanks to a preview version of Allo being made available to another publication. Now it appears that if you send a voice message to the Google Assistant in Allo, it can understand it and act on it. For instance, if you sent a voice message to Google Assistant to turn off the WiFi, it would understand it and then turn off the WiFi on your device. This isn’t really anything new, because users have been able to give Google Now voice commands for quite a few years now. The way you do it is just a bit different, with Allo.
Of course, that’s not all you can do with Google Assistant in Allo. As Google showed off on stage at Google I/O back in May, with the Google Assistant you can type in messages and get a response. For instance, you can ask who won the NBA Finals this year, or who the President of the United States is. You can also ask some more complicated questions and even continue a conversation with Google Assistant. What’s also cool about the Google Assistant in Allo is that you can have it send you Sports news, daily. This way you can keep up with the latest in the world of sports without having to go to another website or use another app. It’s all right there in Allo.
Currently, there’s no timeline for when Allo will be available, unfortunately. Google has told us that it’ll be coming this Fall. With Duo already out, it’s a bit surprising that Allo isn’t yet available. But it should be fairly soon.
