You can make faces, hold up notes, or show that you are excited or sad even before the call is answered.Īs might be expected, the Duo experience can be slightly different depending on which ecosystem you use. The idea is that they are “knocking at the door” and you’re looking through the peephole.Īlthough it sounds a bit odd, Knock Knock is really fun to use. They can’t hear you until you answer and you can’t hear or see them before they answer. This lets the call recipient see you before they answer the call. When you make a call using Duo, the Knock Knock mode is automatically turned on. I really like how tapping the preview bubble in the bottom left-hand corner toggles between a full-screen view of your caller’s video and your own. Everything in the app is snappy and responsive, which is a pleasant surprise in a video-calling app. While using Duo you can mute your microphone and toggle between your phone’s front- and rear-facing cameras. The design may vary slightly depending on the version you’re using.
For the rest of us, it probably won’t matter.ĭuo works with Android 4.1 or later. It can only be used on phones. Those who work on a desktop computer for most of the day and like to transfer calls from the desktop to their mobile phone will miss this feature. Unfortunately, Duo has no desktop component. You can also choose a name from your contact list or enter a telephone number.
Tap their name and they will get a text asking them to download Duo. If the person you want to contact doesn’t yet have Duo, you will see the word “Invite” next to their name. Contacts who already have Duo installed will appear on the top. Tap on “Video Call” and the app will take you to your contact list. You may also be asked to input the number that you are sent in a text message to confirm your telephone number. You will also be asked for permission to use texting, which is used to invite others to download the Duo app.
Then approve the necessary permissions, including the ability to use your camera, microphone and contact list. Just download the app and enter your phone number. It’s an easy-to-use-video-calling mechanism and nothing more. There are no video filters, no group chats, no animated GIFs and no texting.
Google realized this and filled the need for a simple cross-platform video calling app with Google Duo(available free in the iTunes Storeas well as in the Google Play Store). Or they require a membership like Facebook Messenger. Although there are video-calling apps for Android, most of them (like Google Hangouts and Skype) are fairly complex. I use FaceTime when I can, but I have many friends who own Android devices. The problem, of course, is that it requires each caller to be using an Apple device.
iPhone users have access to Apple’s FaceTime, a very easy to use video-calling app. These days, telephone calls inevitably have some kind of video-chat option.