Whether it’s exchanging comments on the ongoing cricket match or making weekend plans with your friends, messaging apps have become central to our lives. But very often, we have to toggle between many apps and screens to find restaurants, cricket scores, updates on local weather and so on. With Google Allo, which launched globally earlier this year, we created a smart messaging app designed to keep you in the conversation and serve you the information you need right within the chat window.
Over the last two months since we launched, Google Allo has received tremendous feedback, especially in India, which has one of the highest number of Google Allo users. Today, I am very excited to share with you that the Google Assistant and Smart Reply in Google Allo are now available in Hindi -- for new and existing users.
The Google Assistant in Hindi
Allo brings you the Google Assistant, a new way to get information and accomplish tasks, without ever leaving the conversation. So whether you want to share your favorite SRK film or simply want to pass time by with your favourite game, the Google Assistant is always ready to help. With today’s launch, the Google Assistant in Allo will now understand and respond in Hindi. You just need to type @google to bring your Assistant into any group chat. And of course, you can also chat one-one-one with your Assistant in Allo. To start using the Assistant in Hindi,just say “Talk to me in Hindi” or adjust the language setting on your device.
Hindi smart replies
Another unique Allo feature is “Smart Reply”, which makes it easier for you to respond quickly. We’ve found that Smart Reply in English has been helpful in sending quick responses while you’re chatting on the go -- in fact, every day more than half of people on Allo use Smart Reply.
Powered by Machine Learning, Google Allo not just understands text, but can also help with suggested responses to images sent by friends and family -- all in Hindi.
Smart Reply will recognize the language you’re chatting in and begin to show suggested responses in that language. So, now you can respond to your friends’ question “Kya haal hai” with “Sab theek hai” or a with a single tap. If you’re chatting in English, it will continue to show English responses. But if you start chatting in Hindi, it will show you suggestions in that language. You can also adjust the language through your device settings.
We’re beginning to roll out these new features in Hindi for Google Allo on Android and iOS, and they will be available to all users over the coming few days. We’ll continue to bring the Google Assistant and Smart Reply to more languages over time - for now they’re available in English, Hindi, Hinglish, German, and Brazilian Portuguese.