iMessage
The AI assistant you can text in iMessage
Arlo is an AI assistant you text in iMessage — no app to install. You message a number like you would text a contact, and it answers questions, triages and drafts replies, schedules, researches, and takes real actions in your apps behind approvals. It can also place phone calls, and it remembers context across every conversation.
Most AI lives behind a tab you have to remember to open. Arlo lives in the app you check all day. You text a number in iMessage the way you would text a teammate, and it answers, drafts, schedules, researches, and takes real action in your tools — then asks before anything risky goes out. It is one AI colleague across iMessage and SMS, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and live phone calls, with memory that follows the conversation wherever it goes.
What you can do by text
- Ask anything — research a question, summarize a thread, get a quick answer with sources.
- Triage and draft — clear your inbox, draft replies in your voice, send once you approve.
- Schedule — find times, send invites, and handle the reschedule without the back-and-forth.
- Act in your tools — open a Linear issue, update a Notion page, queue a Gmail draft, log to your CRM.
- Run things on a schedule — a recurring roundup, a reminder, a morning briefing of what changed.
It makes phone calls, too
Texting is the start. Arlo can also place live phone calls — confirm an appointment, field a basic question, or pass along a message — and keep the transcript so you can ask how it went. A lead can go from a first text to a booked call without you ever leaving Messages. That is something a text-only assistant cannot do — the AI phone assistant page covers the calling side in full.
No app, no new account
There is nothing to install and no new habit to build. You text a number to get started, and because Arlo meets you in iMessage, the friction that kills most productivity tools simply is not there. If your team runs on Slack or Teams, the same colleague works there as well.
Arlo vs. other AI you can text
| Capability | Arlo | Poke / Sidekicks-style assistants |
|---|---|---|
| Text in iMessage, no app | Yes | Yes |
| Works in Slack & Microsoft Teams | Yes | Rarely |
| Places phone calls | Yes | No |
| Acts in 3,000+ tools (incl. no-API via browser) | Yes | Limited |
| Approval gate before every send or write | Yes | Usually no |
| Full audit trace of every action | Yes | No |
| Built for teams, with admin policy | Yes | Personal-first |
See the full Arlo vs. Poke breakdown, or browse all comparisons.
Governed by default
An assistant that can act has to be safe to trust. Every connection resolves through policy before a run, drafts and sends and tool writes wait for a reviewer you choose, and every tool call, source, and approval lands in a full audit trace. You hand off real work by text and still know exactly what happened.
iMessage AI — FAQ
Is there an AI assistant I can text in iMessage?
Yes. Arlo gives you a number you text in iMessage (and SMS) like a contact. There is no app to install and no separate chat window — you ask, and it answers and acts.
Which AI assistants integrate with SMS and iMessage?
Very few work in iMessage itself rather than in their own app. Arlo works over both iMessage and SMS by giving you a number you text like a contact, and the same assistant also works in Slack, Microsoft Teams, and on live phone calls. Poke and Martin are the closest text-first alternatives, and both are shaped around personal life rather than team work.
Do I need to download an app?
No. Arlo works inside the Messages app you already use. You text a number to start, and it also works in Slack, Microsoft Teams, and on phone calls if you want it there too.
Can the iMessage AI actually do things, not just chat?
Yes. Arlo connects to Gmail, Slack, Notion, Linear, GitHub and 3,000+ tools, and can use apps with no API by logging in through a secure browser session. Anything that sends or writes waits for your approval, and every action is logged in an audit trace.
Is there a free AI I can text in iMessage?
Yes. Arlo is free to start: a new texting account begins with $25 in credits (10,000), with no card and no expiry. That covers real work — questions, drafts, reminders, research — and paid plans only come in once you've used it.
Can I use ChatGPT in iMessage instead?
Not from your iPhone. OpenAI's Messages plugin runs in the ChatGPT desktop app on a Mac, where it reads and sends messages from your existing threads; it isn't a contact you can text. Arlo is the other end of the thread: you text it like a person from your phone, and it only sees what you send it.
Does it work on WhatsApp too?
Yes. You can text the same assistant on WhatsApp instead of, or as well as, iMessage and SMS, with the same memory and the same approvals.
Can it make phone calls?
Yes. Beyond texting, Arlo can place live phone calls — confirm an appointment, ask a question, or pass along a message — then keep the transcript so you can ask how it went. Most text-only assistants cannot do this.
How is Arlo different from Poke or other AI you text?
Poke and similar tools are personal assistants for your messaging apps. Arlo is a governed AI colleague for work: it spans iMessage, Slack, Teams, and calls, takes approved actions across your tools, and keeps a full audit trail — built for teams, not just one inbox.