Google Allo For Chrome Finally Arrives, But Only For Android Users (engadget.com)

Google Allo, the chat app that arrived on the iPhone and Android devices last year, now has a web counterpart. Head of product for Allo and video chat app Duo, Amit Fulay, tweeted: "Allow for web is here! Try it on Chrome today. Get the latest Allo build on Android before giving it a spin." Engadget reports: To give it a go, you'll need to open the Allo app on your device and use that to scan a QR code you can generate at this link. Once you've scanned the code, Allo pulls up your chat history and mirrors all the conversations you have on your phone. Most of Allo's key features, including smart replies, emoji, stickers and most importantly the Google Assistant are all intact here. In fact, this is the first time you can really get the full Google Assistant experience through the web; it's been limited to phones and Google Home thus far.

Comments

Oblig. Allo, allo

[nospam007]

Listen very carefully, for I shall say this only once.

Huh?

[bickerdyke]

Sounds complicated. I'll stick with Hangouts. Multi-device, web and app available, group chats and single chats, audio and video..... Google should buy that if they want a good messenger.

oh.. wait a sec..

The new Google+

[paulatz]

There is a huge demand for this new chat app, this is going to be a big hit! All the people who use google+ will also want to use Allo

Thank goodness

[DrXym]

Remember when Google used to support XMPP (Jabber) protocol so chat was federated and people could use what software they liked?

These days, every chat provider is just a vertical, proprietary walled off service. First they snare you with the kewl features, then they scrape your contacts. Then they start grabbing your GPS location. Then they start pushing ads and services at you "relevant to your conversations and location". Then they start integrating features of product B until the chat software is a bloated mess. Then they calve off product B into its own app but make it mandatory you install it as part of a suite. Then a new chat app comes along which claims to do away with the bloat, rinse and repeat.

Just implement a secure, federated, open protocol and stop this nonsense. At that point chat can be part of the phone software stack. Apps can compete on their front ends and other functions they offer.

Overcomplicated or what

[mrbester]

So, in order to use this on my device, I have to go into an already installed app (so why do I need this?). Then in that app I have to use the camera to scan a QR code generated by a link, meaning it has to be on the screen of a *different* device. One that I can't use the end result on anyway.

So I need two devices to run code in the app so I don't have to use the app. TFA in this case means Totally Fucking Awful. Who signed off on this shitty process?

Surprise! Seriously - huge surprise!

[bradley13]

I just wrote a comment grousing about yet-another-walled-off-chat-app. But then I did a brief search, and...

Surprise: Allo apparently uses the Signal protocol, which is an open standard. More, it's a standard that included end-to-end encryption. Unless Google deliberately and specifically broke compatibility, it should be possible for an Allo user to communicate with a Signal user, or anyone else with an app that supports the Signal protocol.

At the moment, I stick to SMS because that lets me send a message to someone without caring about what app they happen to have installed. Everyone can receive an SMS. Kind of pathetic, but there we are. But I use Signal to send those SMS messages, so if someone has a Signal-compatible app, it should automatically upgrade the communications channel.

Here's hoping: If this is the beginning of a movement back to open protocols, the world will be a better place...