The demand for video-calling apps is at an all-time high with more and more people staying at home and wanting to be in touch with their loved ones. Google Duo has upped its game by adding the participant limit in a video call to 12 and is only likely to increase the number. The latest blogpost by Google states that Google Duo has seen 10 million new sign-ups in the past few weeks. Dave Citron, Duo Group product manager listed four new features that have been rolled out for better user experience.
Group size has been increased to 12 participants: Citron in the blog post notes that the number of group calls has been increased 8 times in the past four weeks. The latest development made by Duo is the number of participants that can be added to a video call. It has become 12 and will only increase in the future. Initially, only 8 people could be added to a call.
Improved quality video calling with new video codec technology: Google is working towards uninterrupted high-quality video calling. For audio calling, Duo already uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. It will roll out its new video codec technology in the coming week to improve video call quality and reliability. This feature has been worked to function in low bandwidth regions also, the blog notes.
Take photos during calls: The next feature rolled out by Google, which many people are sharing on their social media platforms nowadays is taking photos of their video conversation.
"The way we get together has changed, but we’re still making memories, whether it’s watching someone blow out their birthday candles on a video call, or video chatting with friends while cooking dinner," Citron states.
The photos taken will automatically be saved to the gallery of the participants. It can be achieved by either downloading Google moments or by tapping on "Take a Photo" on the left.
To use Google moments, all users must have Google Moments. It can be enabled by going to settings on Duo, settings--call settings-- Duo Moments.
AR effect for customized messages: Google Duo has gone up a notch where sending personalized messages is concerned. It has now enabled its users to send messages with the Augmented Reality (AR) effect. When Duo users are unable to make a call, they can simply send a photo or a customized video. The latest AR effects come with messages like "I miss you" and "I am thinking of you".