Google’s rolling out an awesome new Duo feature – but only in ‘select’ regions
Google has started rolling out group video chat functionality to its popular video calling service Duo, but only in select regions.
The news broke via Google engineer Justin Uberti in a tweet on Twitter on Wednesday. Official information about which regions will get the feature, or when specifically it’ll be rolled out to them.
#GoogleDuo
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in select regions https://t.co/QeQCrroGJ6— Justin Uberti (@juberti) April 24, 2019
The only country confirmed to get it so far appears to be Indonesia which tweeted its own news announcement about the feature. The update will add a create group button into the UI. You’ll apparently be able to name and save groups for quick calls, in a similar way to WhatsApp chats.
We’ve reached out to Google to find out when and if the new group chat will appear in the UK and will update this article the moment we hear back.
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Google Duo was originally released in August 2016 and is Google’s answer to popular messaging and call services including Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype and Facetime. It works on as an extension on Google’s Chrome browser and app on Android. There’s also Duo apps for iOS and Windows.
The feature is the default video calling app on unskinned Android devices, like the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. OnePlus made Duo the primary video calling app on its phones earlier this year.
The new group chat is one of a few new services expected to arrive on Duo in the near future. Google also appears to be working on a night time call mode and mysterious “in-progress” feature. Your guess is as good as ours what the latter is.
Duo is one of many messaging and conferencing services getting an overhaul. Rumours broke that Facebook would roll WhatsApp, which it owns, into Messenger at the start of the year. The company’s also been adding a steady stream of features, including a much needed unsend feature to Messenger.
Excited about being able to group chat with your besties on Duo? Let us know on Twitter @TrustedReviews
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
