Slowly Google Allo is growing up and with the latest update, there is a new bot that will allow you to create simple Yes/No polls for your friends and family. The update is a behind-the-scenes update so as long as you have the latest version of Allo on your phone, you will have access to the new poll. For reference, the latest build is version 8.0.035. To activate the new poll bot, simply type @yesno in the text box to message a single friend or a group of friends. After you type in @yesno, type in your question right after it. For example, “@yesno Have you tried the new polls in Google Allo?” Press send and it will go to all of your friends in that message group. They (and you) can then tap the Yes or the No button to vote. Simple and easy.
Where this could be useful is if you are meeting a group of friends and want to know if the restaurant you have selected is a good option. Or if everyone wants to go to lunch in the office.
While the new poll feature is handy, especially for groups, there remain significant holes in Allo in general. Lack of integrated SMS support remains the top requested item and without it, Allo could not be a viable replacement for Hangouts in that regard (which is getting SMS turned off for Non-Project Fi or Google Voice users).
