Google Allo Release Date, News and Updates: The new messaging app from Google

Google is announcing a new messaging app today. It's called Allo and its main feature is a Google assistant that's built right in. Google says it'll be available later this summer - for free - on both iOS and Android.Allo (pronounced like "Aloe" and not like "'allo, guv'nor!") is a mobile-only app that you might think is meant to replace Google's other messaging app, Hangouts. But you'd be wrong. Allo is explicitly meant to be a fresh start for Google's new communication's division (which also runs Hangouts and Project Fi).

"It's really liberating to start from scratch sometimes," says Erik Kay, director of engineering, communications products. And Allo does feel like a fresh new start. Its interface is clean and easy to understand, with some clever little innovations on what you've seen in other chat apps like WhatsApp or Messenger.

Let's start with the basics. You sign up with your phone number and you can connect your Google account to it, though there's no need to. You can see the usual chat app stuff: there are sent and received indicators, emoji, and a big set of custom stickers. Amit Fulay, group product manager on Google's communications products team, says that Google commissioned stickers from artists with an eye toward ensuring there was a wide diversity of options - stuff that would work in India, as well as in America.

When you send a photo, it shows up full-bleed in the screen and you can even doodle on it if you want. Another neat trick: before you hit send, you can drag your finger up or down on the button to enlarge or shrink the text. Google calls it "WhisperShout."If that were all there were to Allo, it wouldn't really have a reason to exist. It certainly wouldn't give you a good reason to switch away from whatever chat app (or, more likely, chat apps) you're currently using. But Google thinks the secret weapon it has in the battle for your thumbs is... Google.