Google's Allo is powered by the same encryption tech used in WhatsApp

At yesterday’s I/O 2016 keynote, Google announced a new secure messaging app called Allo. One of the coolest parts about Allo is its incognito mode that offers up full end-to-end encryption. What’s Google using to power that encryption in incognito mode? The answer may be a little more familiar than you’d think.

Soon after the Allo announcement, Open Whisper Systems sent out a blog post explaining that they’ve been collaborating with Google to bring its Signal Protocol to Allo’s incognito mode. This means the same strong encryption technology that’s powering WhatsApp is also powering Allo’s incognito mode. There aren’t too many other details regarding the partnership at the moment, but Open Whisper Systems says they’ll provide more technical details about the integration when the app becomes available.

Allo is slated to launch sometime later this summer.

In addition to providing users with full end-to-end encryption, incognito mode in Allo will also offer up private notifications and chats that expire after a certain amount of time. For more details on Allo, you can now pre-register for the app in the Google Play Store.