Google video calling app “Duo” for Android and iOS makes debut, set to rival Facetime

August 15, 2016 was a remarkable day for Google, as it that day launched Google Duo, a one-to-one video calling app for Android and iOS.  though you may have to wait a bit as this is a gradual rollout, it will be live worldwide in the next few days.

Duo only works on Mobile, it was built to be very fast, thanks to Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC), and “takes the complexity out of video calling,” according to principal software engineer Justin Uberti. Duo promises fewer dropped calls, and even supports handing calls off between Wi-Fi and cellular connections.

Using Duo only requires a phone number, it is not Google reliant, i.e it does not require setting up an account, nor having a google account.

Duo comes in play to rival Apple’s (a long time Google rival) Facetime. People can only use FaceTime to call others who have Apple devices. But Duo lets you place video calls between Android and iPhone users, and sizably increases the universe of people with whom you can hold a video conversation.

“You shouldn’t have to worry about whether your call will connect, or if your friend is using the same type of device as you are,” Google said in a statement, in a veiled jab at Apple. “It’s no wonder that nearly half of U.S. adults never make video calls on mobile.”

All of this feeds into Google’s strategy to attract iPhone users over to Android. Google’s apps generally work better on Android devices than on iPhones, so the more that people get hooked on Google’s core apps, the less incentive there is to stay loyal to Apple.

Nick Fox, Google’s head of communication products, said the top priority with Duo was to build a great product and to increase the use of video calling among Android users. But he added that making Android more attractive to iPhone owners was a secondary motive. He said that Duo’s appeal was that it was simple to use, fast and more widely accessible.

“Our view is video calling should work for everybody,” he said. “If you can only call half the people you know, that’s very limiting.”

Apple does not profess to be worried by Google’s moves. When the iPhone maker reported falling sales last month, Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, repeatedly highlighted that the rate at which people were switching from Android-based devices to iPhones was the highest the company had seen.

I guess Facetime is just as or more intuitive than Duo, and Apple users don’t really have any reason to use Duo.

But if I had to call an Android user from my iPhone, I would use Duo over other video-calling services like Skype or Facebook Messenger, because of the simplicity, speed and reliability embedded in Google Duo.

I believe it is just a matter of years, before Duo outshines Facetime.