Google Allo to feature end-to-end encryption, disappearing messages and built-in search

Seems like the final version of Google's Allo messaging app will feature full end-to-end encryption, ephemeral messages that disappear after a set amount of time has passed – à la Snapchat – as well as incognito chats, search mode and a lot more.

While all conversations in Allo will be encrypted end-to-end, incognito chats will provide users with a way to share temporary messages with other people. Users can set the “expiry” period of their messages from 1 week, 1 day and 1 hour, all the way down to 1 minute, 30 seconds, 10 seconds and even 5 seconds for the most secret of secret content. This setting can be individually and easily turned on or off by either participant in the conversation. Of course, taking screenshots in incognito mode is a no go, and the same goes for trying to share your screen with Google Now on Tap. As of yet, and we are talking a test preview build of Allo here, there is no countdown timer implemented into the app, which means that you can't keep track of when a “self-destructing” message will disappear. Let's hope that Google will add this in the final version.

Apart from the amped up security and secrecy, Allo also features a very convenient built-in universal search engine. This means that users will be able to use it to search for key words across all their conversations, akin to how the search bar in Gmail works. Judging by screenshots from Allo, obtained by Android Police, the search engine will not be limited to the user's chats, but will be able to look up other things, such as Google Assistant answers and suggestions, and let the user navigate multiple results in the same search window. Allo will also feature the option to delete sent and received messages, though they will disappear only from the conversation history of the user who deleted them.

At this year's Google I/O developer conference, Google said that Allo would be released this summer, and although there is no concrete launch date, it shouldn't be too long before we see a final release of the app.