Google Allo vs WhatsApp – Which is Better?

Having made a comparison of Google Allo vs WhatsApp, here’re my views about which of these messenger apps is better.

“The old order changeth yielding place to new
And God fulfills himself in many ways
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.”

These lines by A.L. Tennyson probably equally apply to technology as to every existent thing in the world. New things keep coming and replace older things and the process keeps its pace moving. It has been about 3 months since Google announced it new messaging app Allo and its preview edition has finally made its way to the Play Store and Apple Store. As soon as we think of the word ‘chat’, the first things that flash in our mind are WhatsApp and Messenger.

As soon as we think of the word ‘chat’, the first things that flash in our mind are WhatsApp and Messenger, both owned by Facebook. With the release of Google Allo, a new debate has occupied people’s mind- will Allo be able to compete WhatsApp? Moreover, there’s a bigger question- is Allo better than WhatsApp and will people leave using the latter in favor of Google’s new messaging app?

Since the preview edition of Allo has already been launched, we can at least try to make a Comparision between both the apps. The battle of the Titans has already broken out and it’s just a matter of time before the winner is declared. WhatsApp is definitely the most popular app that people use for chat, but Allo with its integration of Google Search, Google Now, and other smart features appears to be a worthy contender that might defeat its powerful opponent and surprise us all.

Must Read: Google Allo Review: Messaging Made Fast and Encrypted

Google Allo vs WhatsApp

Being instant messaging apps, WhatsApp and Google Allo are very similar. Actually, it is still very early to compare a well-established app like WhatsApp which has seen hundreds of updates since its launch with the preview edition of a new app like Allo. However, such considerations do not hold much importance in the eyes of a user. If an app (old or new) is better in features than its counterpart, the user prefers the one that’s more user-friendly and offers more privacy and security features.

Must Read: Google Allo Tips and Tricks

Feature in Which WhatsApp Excels Allo

1. WhatsApp recently introduced end-to-end encryption for all chats and messages. The feature makes the messages secure by not allowing anybody to intercepts them during the time they are sent from one device and received by the other. Allo currently has this feature only in an incognito chat.
2. WhatsApp has more options for privacy than Allo. Moreover, WhatsApp also allows the user to choose whether he/she want the messages to be shown as “seen” or not.
3. WhatsApp lets users delete single and multiple messages in a chat. While in Allo, you can delete only one message at a time.
4. In WhatsApp, you can see if a person is online or not. It also displays when a person was last active. Allo doesn’t have these features.
5. WhatsApp shows the time for each of the sent or received messages. Allo only shows the day when a message was sent or received.
6. In WhatsApp, we can back up our chats and even set the frequency of backups. Allo doesn’t have any option for backup as of now.
7. In WhatsApp, you can see the time for each chat message but in Allo, you’ve to tap a message to find out when it was sent to you.

Features that Make Allo Better Than WhatsApp

Now here’re some features that make Allo far more superior to WhatsApp:

1. Taking advantage of Google’s open signal protocol, Allo probably becomes the only chat app with incognito mode feature. It addresses the user’s concern about the privacy and security of chat messages.
2. In the incognito mode, you can also set a timer for the expiry of the sent messages. The feature reminds me of the movie ‘Burn After Reading’. Enabling the timer triggers automatic deletion of messages within a certain duration after the message is sent and seen at the other end.
3. Google Allo comes with Google Assistant integration that incorporates the Google search, pulls out information from the web, embeds YouTube videos, and works like a smart invisible friend who has a solution for almost everything.
4. Unlike WhatsApp, Allo has an exclusive feature that offers Smart Reply. The feature suggests automatic replies for the last chat messages. The good thing is, it keeps learning from the user’s habit and patterns of responding to messages and offers smarter and more relevant suggestions over time. As of now, the Smart Reply feature is available in English only.
5. Google Allo also comes ‘Whisper’ and ‘Shout’ features that enable users to emphasize or draw attention to something by changing the size of the text with a quick vertical swipe on the Send button. The increasing and decreasing features also work for smileys.
6. Allo’s Ink feature lets you get creative by allowing you to doodle and add to pictures before sending them.
7. Just like WhatsApp, Google Allo is primarily a messaging app that lets you communicate with the contacts with a phone number only. It identifies contacts with their phone number. However, unlike WhatsApp, Allo also allows you to add your Gmail account to the app. It syncs with your Google account and gives you relevant updates and even shows your emails right inside the app’s interface.
8. Allo intelligently recognizes images you add in a chat and gives smart replies based on what the picture is about.

What do you think about Allo? Is it better than WhatsApp? Will you switch to it? Do share your views via comments below!

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