Google’s Allo messaging app has only been available for a little over a week, but it appears the app is already pretty popular among Android users. Only a few days ago it was reported that the messaging app had been downloaded more than 1 million times from the Google Play Store. Now, the messaging app’s popularity has surpassed the next marker, reaching over 5 million downloads on the Play Store since its release.
Although the Play Store listing states that the app has surpassed 5 million downloads, there’s now way to be sure what the exact number is, or even downloads that come from users who have downloaded the app on more than one device. What is sure though, is the fact that the app has got off to a relatively good start. hitting the top of the Play Store within a couple of days and surpassing the 5 million downloads in a similar time-frame to Duo, which took about a week to reach 5 million downloads, although Duo has now surpassed the 10 million mark.
Without a doubt, the standout feature for Allo is the preview version of Google Assistant, which is essentially a bot that allows you to interact with Google and is similar in a way to Google Now. Users have the ability to ask Google’s Assistant questions regarding more or less anything and the virtual assistant will search Google in order to provide a result. Also, users can set up subscriptions such as a daily weather forecast and can even play games such as Solitaire within the app. All of this is rumored to eventually be combined with the integration of Google Duo, meaning Allo users could easily start a video call with any of their contacts without needing to leave the app.
Allo currently sits alongside Hangouts, which Google plans on turning into a business-focused messaging app, and Messenger, the company’s simple SMS messaging app, which it encourages users to use for SMS instead of Hangouts. With Google Allo still in the early stages and the hype still relatively high, it remains to be seen if Google can capitalize on this period and create a true competitor to the likes of WhatsApp.