Google I/O witnessed a number of announcements ,with the prominent being the launch of two new social apps-Google Duo and Google Allo. Though Google has tried to enter social messaging market earlier with Google Talk and later with Google Hangouts, things didn’t quite work out for the Tech Giant. The social messaging market is witnessing a lot of competition between app makers. Here’s a list of the apps that are expected to give a tough competition to Google Allo.
WhatsApp Messenger
With more than 900 million monthly users WhatsApp is the biggest threat to Allo. With new features like Voice calling, ability to send documents and End to End encryption WhatsApp is getting even better. Also features like Voicemail and Callback option are expected in the coming months. WhatsApp recently launched app for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 users, further enhancing its abilities. Facebook acquired WhatsApp in February 2014 for $19 billion. The monthly users are expected to reach 1 billion by the end of this year.
iMessage
Google Allo will also be available to IPhone. Most IPhone users love Apple’s proprietary messaging service. Though iMessage is not a threat to Google’s Allo in Android market, for IOS devices it is Allo’s biggest rival. iMessage allows users to send texts, documents, photos, videos, contact information, and group messages over Wi-Fi, mobile phone’s Internet access, or other forms of Internet access to other iOS or OS X users
Hike Messenger
Hike messenger is a social messaging app best suited for Indian users. Google’s Allo will face tough competition from Hike Messenger in India. Hike offers some unique features that no other social messenger offers .The timeline feature, private chats, games, news and the ability to share movies ,photos and videos even when offline are some of the examples. Hike also offers free text messaging anywhere in India. In addition to the above features Hike also has the ability to support regional languages, with stickers also available in Indian languages.
Telegram
Telegram is the only messaging app that has open API and Protocols for everyone. With fastest message delivery and heavily encrypted messages Telegram is all set to give a tough competition to Allo. Telegram allows developers to develop their own tools for the app. With features like ability to self destruct messages and no limit for media size, it’s hard to keep up with Telegram. Using Telegram on PC is also easy with the web version or the available app for Windows/MAC/Linux. The clean UI of the app is also appreciated by users
BBM
When BlackBerry’s proprietary messaging service was launched for Android there was a long list of users. The number of users slowly began to reduce. But BlackBerry is trying hard to conserve its homegrown messenger, improving it with every update. The UI of the app is clean and the messages are secured, so BBM is the choice of Businessmen and other professionals .With features like smart reply and ability to share live locations BBM will give Google Allo a tough time.
Should Google be worried?
Yes and No. Like all the apps in this list Allo offers some pretty unique features like Ink, Whisper Shout and Smart-Reply. On top of these unique features Allo will take advantage of the new Google Assistant. For privacy conscious users Google has included features like an optional Incognito mode for end-to-end encryption and discrete notifications. But, the other apps have been around for quite some time and have established themselves as key players in the market. They have a large number of users and are continuously improving with every update. Will Allo be a game changer for Google or will it fail just like Hangouts? That remains to be seen.
