Google Duo – A FaceTime killer and Simple video calling app for Android and iOS
Brace yourselves, the rival to FaceTime, Skype, Viber, Line and much more frequently used video calling apps is here. Released in the US on the 16th of August 2016, the Google Duo App has become a sensation on Google Play, with more than thirty-one [31] thousand downloads from the app store in a mere four days post-launch!
The Google Duo app has been dubbed as “insanely-simple” owing to the simplicity of its design. Users of the app would have no problems in reaching out for the video call tab in the face of various options showing around, such is the easy and straightforward layout it has to showcase. The Duo app is a cross-platform app which is available for download from both Google Play and iTunes. A cell number is all that is needed by users to log into the app which makes the login process relatively simple.
Activating ASAP
The front camera of the phone is enabled by the app as soon as it start-up to give an idea to users that are jet-set for a video call by them, even their face shows it when the camera is activated. Users can then make a video call to anyone in their contacts or search for someone to connect to before they begin a video call.
Knock-Knock: I Know Who’s There Already
Much spoken about is the knock-knock feature which the Google Duo app had to offer to users and which is a bit unique in a sense. The knock-knock feature starts showing the video of an incoming call to users even while the tone is ringing and they still have to choose to accept the call.
This, according to Google is to do away with users on both sides asking each other if they can see them! Even if a phone is locked, and users get a ring from someone on Google Duo, this feature will remain active and the video will show before the commencement of a call.
However, anytime they think that it is not such a good idea, they can opt to deactivate this feature anytime. Plus, this works only for people users know of and have saved into their contact list. This does not work for strangers whom they have not saved as contacts into their list of contacts on the app. Apple users would be able to take benefit of this feature only if the Google Duo app is open on their phones, otherwise not.
In-Call View Blocking
Another new feature of the app is that it blocks the view during video calls to the other side if one of the users is browsing any other part of the phone. It is not exactly known how helpful this feature would be or what was the intent behind its designing but essentially what it does is that it shows a blank grey screen to the other side when a user is, say, replying to a text message that just came in during the call or digging out a contact number from his contacts list.
Some Hope for PC Users
As of this writing, the Google Dup app is available on mobile only, but the company is of the opinion that it is possible that a PC version of the Google Duo app rolls out pretty soon so hope is still alive for PC users…
Google Duo APK:
If for some reasons you were unable to download it directly from Play Store, then here is the apk download link for you:
How to install APK
When you’ve already downloaded the apk file, then it’s a lot easier to install Google Duo on your phone.
- Download apk file from the above download link.
- Copy the apk file to phone storage.
- Go to Settings and enable ‘Unknown Sources’ from security section.
- Using the file manager, navigate to the download folder and tap the app apk to start the installation.
- That’s it.
You can still install it from Play Store on your Android or iOS device. Here how you can do it:
Step 1: Open Google Play on Android or app store on your iPhone.
Step 2: Search for Google Duo.
Step 3: Tap to download and install.
That’s it. You have successfully installed Google Due on your iPhone or Android. Don’t forget to share what you think about the new app in the comment section below.
