Google Allo. Time to take on Whatsapp.

Google Allo is set for release pretty soon. I say pretty soon, because the tech giant has been annoyingly vague about it’s release date. According to them it’ll be “summer sometime”. Whatever that means for a South African.

The reason my ears are perking up though, is the sheer ambition of the app. Everyone — and this is not just general exaggeration — has Whatsapp installed on their phones. Whether we really like the app or not isn’t the point. We’ve gotten used to it, and it’s now pasted on each phone’s home screen.

Now, the question. How do you get dedicated users to leave an app they’ve become so accustomed to? I can’t really say. Probably by offering something that’s so exceptional, people want to switch. There’ll have to be a few really good, easy to use features that leave Whatsapp lacking.

Expectations are high from my side. It’s Google. If anyone could try and unseat a giant messaging app, it’s them. So the latest info. Set for release in what I imagine is the European summer. Which is our winter. That’s now. If you’re on Android, register for the pre release. For the iPhone users like myself, no such luck. Well just have to endlessly keep checking the App store until something legitimate pops up.

Features. Well I’m not gonna dig in too deep here. There are a hundred tech articles addressing them more thoroughly. The variation you now have in text size is downright awesome. Called “Whispershout,” you can physically change the size of your text messages to change the volume. Doodling on pictures. Stickers. Smart replies. A whole lot of cool-sounding stuff. But lets see if it actually translates.

They haven’t yet delivered an app that I can outright shoot down. Let’s see what they come up with this time.