I want to tell you about the new messenger with smart functions from Google, which raises many questions 'why?'.
How do you, dear readers, feel about messengers? I confess that they often annoy me. Because among them the uttermost hell is going on. Viber, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Hangouts, and these are just the most popular ones. The problem is that each of your acquaintances / relatives / friends / colleagues uses different applications for different reasons, and in order to communicate with them, you have to keep each of the messengers in your smartphone.
On an ongoing basis, I use four, given that the Vkontakte client is installed mostly for messages. I'd gladly ditch everything in favor of Telegram – it has a great mobile app and an equally user-friendly PC client. But if you limit yourself to one messenger, then you can lose touch with many people. Therefore, you have to endure a bunch of applications that perform the same functions.
For some reason, Google decided that one Hangouts app was not enough for users, and divided it into two new ones – Allo for messages and Duo for video calls. I would support the idea of rebranding the old messenger, since it failed to gain popularity, but creating two separate products is a strange and illogical move.
We first learned about the new messengers in May at the Google I / O 2016 developer conference. The main feature of Allo was named the so-called 'smart' component in the form of the built-in bot / assistant Google Asisstant. Already at the presentation, this idea sounded strange, after a direct acquaintance with the application, it was finally possible to make sure of this. So, on September 21, Google Allo became available for download in Goolge Play as a final product, but not for all regions (not for Russia, but you can install via apk -file), and I'll tell you if it's worth the time.
Hangouts + Google Now = Allo
Google Allo is inherently no different from many other instant messengers. You can send text and voice messages, photos and share the position on the map. You can also add emotion to your correspondence with emoticons, stickers, or by changing the font size. But all this is lyrics.
The main focus of the Google Allo presentation was on the 'smart' virtual assistant Assistant. This is a separate interlocutor, which, in fact, is a slightly redesigned Google Now. Only now it cannot be called by the already cult voice command 'Okay Google', to work as an assistant you need to open the Allo app, select a dialogue with Google Assistant and only then ask a question in text or voice. By the way, many commands can be written / spoken in Russian, but the assistant will still answer in English.
At the presentation, Assistant promised that it will be 'smarter' than Google Now, learn to take into account context, location and time when working. But at the moment it doesn't work. I even tried to give exactly the same commands that were demonstrated at Google I / O. For example, 'What's going to the cinema?', Then the assistant gives out actual films in cinemas, then I specify 'There is something for children', this question is already incomprehensible to him, and I get search results for this phrase. And I tried all kinds of wording on Russian and English. Google promised that communicating with Assistant would be like speaking with a real person, but alas, it is not coming out yet. The functions may be missing due to the region (Russia) or version Android – 6.0.1. But limiting the capabilities of not the oldest systems would be a strange decision on the part of Google.
The promised function of 'smart' predictive answers, by the way, also does not fully work. The application offers variants of phrases only in the chat with the Assistant; in the correspondence with 'regular' users, tips do not pop up even in English.
Is it convenient as a messenger?
In pursuit of smart features, Google has completely forgotten about the most important thing – convenience.
My first impressions of Allo were very positive, but after a while my opinion changed to the diametrically opposite. The main problem is that only one device can be linked to one phone number. If you have a tablet in addition to your smartphone and want to install Allo on it, then nothing will come of it. You can use the messenger only from one device.
The next problem is the lack of a PC client. I think this is temporary, but I'm used to the fact that all the messengers I need work on a computer. After all, the phone is not always at hand: you can forget it somewhere, leave it in the next room, it can be discharged, and that's it, you don't have access to messages. Another thing is that you cannot send documents to Google Allo. You can, of course, use third-party file sharing and give a download link, but it's inconvenient. In Telegram, for example, you can not only share files and documents, but there is even a separate personal cloud storage. 
There are also many minor minuses and shortcomings, you can list them endlessly. Simply put, it can be seen that this product is completely new, it will take a lot of time and effort to catch up with the market leaders in terms of convenience and functionality. Not to mention the size of the audience, only the most notorious of enthusiasts can be found at Allo right now.
Conclusion
A strange, very strange product. Google Allo raises many questions. The very first, perhaps, is “why?” Why was there a new messenger when there is Hangouts? Why release a standalone video calling app? Why release an app with a built-in assistant? There are many questions, but it seems to me that even Google does not fully understand why all this is needed. What is the fact that Google VP of Communications Products Nick Fox, in an interview with The Verge, admitted that they do not yet have a strategy for promoting the Google Duo video calling app.
In general, while Google Allo does not have obvious advantages over its competitors, this is another messenger with a beautiful interface and a dubious future. So the answer to the question 'is it worth the time?' like: no, not worth it. We will keep an eye on the development of Allo in the future.
Thank you for attention.