Google has made a habit out of revealing features it intends to introduce in the code of apps currently on the Play Store. Allo, in particular, has been a recent beneficiary of this practice, with news of chat backups and group incognito conversations being teased behind the scenes long before those features actually debuted.
Well, 9to5Google has torn down the latest Allo APK, and wouldn’t you know, it happened again. In addition to personalized stickers generated based on your selfies, Allo 11 carries evidence of a handful of other features that could debut in the coming weeks and months.
First, Duo integration. Duo is Allo’s video chat focused sibling, and a future update should allow you to make Duo calls from within Allo. The presumption is that, upon initiating a call, you’ll be redirected to Duo. However, if you don’t have the app installed, Allo will suggest you get on that.
There are also new features to get your friends into group conversations much quicker. Eventually, you will be able to push out invite links, and reset them if they go bad. You will also have the option of sharing QR codes — when other users scan them, they can instantly join your chat.
Finally, there are new settings related to Google Assistant lurking in the background, though the report does not elaborate as to what they might entail.
It is worth reiterating that finding mention of features in code is never a guarantee they will appear in a reasonable timeframe, or at all. That said, these seem like pretty safe bets, and Google likes to discreetly push these kinds of changes out individually. Chances are we may not even know when these features finally hit our devices but they give us a good idea of what to expect from Google’s messaging service going forward.
Allo 11 is rolling out right now on the Play Store, so you should be receiving it shortly if you have not already.
