What's the best Allo alternative?
January 2, 2019 7:55 AM   Subscribe

One thing that Google Allo has that I've not seen anywhere else is incognito mode. So it won't give a preview of what someone has said, just "you have a message"

I use WhatsApp for most of my messaging but find it useful to have a different app for certain messages.
Google Allo has been pretty helpful in this regard but now I'm looking for an alternative.
posted by Just this guy, y'know to Computers & Internet (5 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Signal?
posted by The Bellman at 8:12 AM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]


Can you explain a little more about the feature you're looking to replicate? Is it the encryption of incognito mode or is it the non-detailed notification (and do you mean in the app itself or in the pop-up notification?)

If you're just looking to make the pop-up notifications not have a preview, that's an app setting you can set on any app within Android settings (not sure about iPhone)
posted by brainmouse at 8:25 AM on January 2, 2019 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Seconding Signal! Skype for iPhone also has a setting for changing the notification settings so it just says ‘new message’ instead of previewing it, if that’s the primary goal. I’m not sure about Telegram, but that’s also a messenger that (like Signal) prioritizes safety and security of messages above all else, so it seems likely it would have similar features.
posted by suri at 5:27 PM on January 2, 2019


Response by poster: Signal works great.
It does indeed have a setting to not show the contents of the message!
It has disappearing message which we probably don't want, but good to have the option.
It also lets me enforce a fingerprint or password to get into even if the phone is unlocked.

Giving it a try but I'm pretty sure it's going to do the job.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 7:00 AM on January 3, 2019


It also has "sealed sender," which is something I'm fairly sure no other app has. In terms of security, I believe Signal is currently the gold standard for messaging apps -- you just have to make sure everyone in the chain is using it.
posted by The Bellman at 7:47 AM on January 3, 2019


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