Google’s video calling platform, ‘Google Duo’ now supports an audio calling feature worldwide. Initially the feature was rolled out specifically for Brazil, the past month. However, the global roll out process began this week. Announcing the roll-out, Amit Fulay, Head of Product – Google Allo and Google Duo tweeted,
#GoogleDuo Audio calls is rolling out worldwide now …
— Amit Fulay (@amitfulay) March 27, 2017
As of today, Justin Uberti, Google’s Principal engineer and lead for Duo, announced that the feature is now available worldwide. This denotes the end of roll-out process. He tweeted,
?? Google Duo’s new audio calling feature now available worldwide! pic.twitter.com/gFQxQTcu2S
— Justin Uberti (@juberti) April 10, 2017
Audio calling has been seamlessly integrated into Duo, which requires you to swipe down on the app’s screen to access a video/audio calling toggle. Google further says that the audio calling is data efficient and work well on all connection speeds. Starting today, Duo users on Android and iOS can enjoy the feature from anywhere in the world. The app is available for free installation via both Google Play store and Apple’s App store.
This audio-only call option is aimed towards increasing Duo’s adoption rate in emerging markets, where the lack of strong or high-bandwidth connectivity is a prominent issue. This has been one of the most requested features and Google has finally come through. The feature also positions the app against the likes of Skype (recently launched a lite version), Messenger, and others.
Google Duo was simply a video calling app, launched by the tech giant at their annual Google I/O developer conference in May last year. Prior to the development, the app was quite minimalistic and provided you with just a video calling button at the center of the screen at the bottom, which provided access to contacts on the app. Though, if the feature is still not available in your app, you might just have to check for an update.
