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It hasn’t been that long since Google launched Allo for Web. Since that day, around our office and in my personal communications, it has been an all-Allo affair.
I know Allo still isn’t the go-to messenger for a lot of folks, but I’d assume the introduction of a desktop option brought a decent amount of new users into the fray.
Though packed with quite a few features out of the gate, there are a few things that were missing from the experience when compared with the phone interface.
GIFs Are Crucial
Let’s just be real honest, here. GIF search and support is essential to the modern messenger. There are so many things that can be perfectly communicated with just the right GIF, but if a messenger doesn’t have a built in GIF search, the whole experience of sending the right animation just falls flat.
Up until today, I’ve used @lucky to send GIF’s, but that can be a bit of a gamble. If you’ve not tried it, type in @lucky and whatever phrase you are trying to communicate. @lucky will then pull up an associated GIF and, honestly, does a pretty good job most times.
There are occasions, though, when @lucky just misses and either delivers something completely random or totally off-color. Either way, I usually prefer a much more finely-controlled experience.
Now, however, the super-useful Smart Smiley feature is available in the Web app. Tonight, when sending a message over to Gabriel, Allo alerted me of the added Smart Smiley feature that is now available in the web version.
How does it work? Quite simply, actually. You just need to click the Smart Smiley button in the input line and you’ll see a few things on offer based on whatever you type.
- Emojis
- Stickers
- GIFs
So, if you are excited about something and you type “I’m super excited,” you get the following:
Just like on the phone, this is one of my favorite features of using Allo. Having all these different and interesting ways to communicate quick messages to friends, family and coworkers only make the overall experience of using Allo feel so much more appealing than Hangouts.
Again, I know there are plenty of naysayers when it comes to Allo, but to those who give it a try, I think this latest feature addition to the web version will make using it all that much better.
