Google Allo Chat App's Features Tipped Ahead of Launch

In a world full of messaging apps already dominated by WhatsApp, it is hard to imagine that a new app can possibly try to dethrone the veteran. However, this is the task in hand for Google's upcoming text messaging service, Allo. Latest leaks have revealed the features that the upcoming messaging app from search giant might bring with its new chat platform.

As per screenshots and information received from testers of an early preview of Google Allo, Android Police has compiled a bunch of features we can expect from the Google Allo app. Apart from text chats, Allo will seemingly allow you to share your location, photos, or videos taken from inside application, and also the files taken in your phone's gallery. However, other types of files like music or documents doesn't seem to be possible at present, the report points out.

The publication adds that Google's Allo will come with a support for sharing gif images, and also feature an annotation feature that allows you to write anything on the images that you share. No text captions will be possible. This annotation feature will not be applicable to videos. Another important feature to notice about Allo is that just like WhatsApp, size compression for images and videos will also be applied in the Google's text messaging app to make uploads faster. The report noted that the compression appears to be much more aggressive than what Google previously used with Hangouts.

The option of playing the video inside application will not be available and you will have to use whichever media player you prefer to watch the videos received within the application. Users will also not be able to trim videos before sending them. There is an option to disable the automatic download of received photos and videos, but no option to limit auto downloads to Wi-Fi only.

In a separate report, the publication adds that the messaging app comes with 3 preloaded sticker packs, with the option to download more. For now, 24 additional sticker packs are available from various designers, and the publication notes that for now there seems to be no option to add a sticker pack via a URL or a zip file. As per the report, you can download and arrange the sticker packs as you wish under "My Stickers" category. Some of the options available for download can be termed rather explicit but you will be provided with enough options to say the least, including references to sexting, condoms, and nipples. Some of the stickers also animate.

Android Police has further pointed out that the voice messaging feature available inside Allo seems to resemble WhatsApp's voice messaging feature and apart from the aesthetics, works in essentially the same way.

Like WhatsApp, Google Allo is tied to your phone number, and based on this can people find and add you. However, it's also linked to your Google account, Android Police points out. Although Allo doesn't necessarily need your Google account to be linked with the app to function, it does need it to make suggestions to you through Google Assistant. In order to understand your personality and learn your behaviour, the app needs to be connected to your Google. The use of a phone number also implies that multi-device support doesn't exist, and that the app tied to the same account on different phones will contain different messages.

It is important to note that the account is used in no other way (for syncing data, contacts etc.) apart from learning your personality and you can even have two different Allo accounts tied up to the same Google account, as per the report.

In a distinguishing feature from Hangouts, Allo will reportedly provide you the ability to delete sent or received messages. For clarification's sake, the messages will only disappear from your chat history and not from that of sender or receiver of those messages.

It should be kept in mind that all of this information has been revealed from a test build of the app and final version might be radically different in terms of features.