Google Duo is the highest quality video calling app*. It’s simple, reliable, and works across Android and iOS phones and tablets, smart devices, and on the web.
Features:
Make calls between Android and iOS
Whether you’re on your phone, tablet, or on the web, you can stay in touch with Duo. You can also share and join group calls with just a link.
Group call with up to 32 people
Bring together all the people who matter most, even when you’re apart, with group calling. Duo now supports 32 people in group video calls.
Bring everyone together with Family mode**
Doodle on video calls and surprise loved ones with fun masks and effects that transform you into astronauts, cats and more.
Capture special moments
Take photos of your video calls to capture any moment and share it automatically with everyone on the call.
Send video and voice messages, photos, and more
Short on time or your friends can’t pick up? Leave a personalized video message with fun effects, or share voice messages, photos, notes, and emojis.
Low Light Mode
Duo lets you make video calls even in poor lighting conditions.
Voice calling
Make voice-only calls to your friends when you can’t chat over video.
*Based on Signals Research Group technical study comparing video degradation time over 3G, LTE, and WiFi.
**Requires sign-in with a Google account.
***Data charges may apply. Check your carrier for details.
****Specific feature availability may vary based on device specifications.
*****If your Android TV does not have a built-in camera, you will need to connect a USB camera and microphone to your Android TV device.
******Duo works on Android TV devices with Android 8.0 or higher.
Good app. My wife and I use it to call each other while traveling internationally. We can use text and data when traveling, but not calling. We have T-Mobile. Duo uses data, so it allows us to call without extra charges and fees. We tried video calling a few times. The quality was just OK. When we used it for voice only calls, the quality was really good, indistinguishable from cell phone calls. Voice uses much less bandwidth than video. Overall, it is worth it.
One of the best video chat/messaging apps available! End-to-end encryption and lossless transfer of photos/etc. Real-time chat uses very little bandwidth for the quality of the service. Fun face-following animations to use! An image apparently must be saved to the recipient’s device to be viewed with its original specifications.
Worked great in the beginning….the more updates I do….the worse it gets… The picture freezes….. And when the picture freezes the microphones cut out and you can’t hear anything until the app catches up…. Very very aggravating even totally cuts you off your video call… I wish it worked like it did in the beginning…
Coolness that’s easy AF 2 use and can be super fun 2… depending on who you’re chatting with, that is, from my experience anyway😁🙃😉 I’ve just gotta remember how to change the background picture because I put a wallpaper that’s mostly black in color as mine and it makes me and especially my big curly hair look really weird because of it somehow. So, I don’t suggest a black background for yourself on here but can’t imagine how any other color might have the same issues, still, I am, no pro! ♥
Video and voice quality can be kind of glitchy at times. That could easily be a network problem since I live in a small town though.( I know its not my phone its a new s22 ultra.) Other than that we’ve never had any problems that really matter to the functionality of the app. Works great and very convenient. We’ve used it for personal calls of course, but we’ve also used it for doctors appointments, especially during Covid.
I use this app to talk to my fiance and sister when I’m not using messenger. Pros: Its a easy app to use for video or voice call. Doesn’t drain your battery life too fast. Built into most Androids. No ads. Cons: Sometimes, the audio will mess up. Either I can’t hear the other person or they can’t hear me. Simply hanging up and calling back fixes it though. At times, My sister will call me and the calls won’t come through and vice versa. Again, restarting the app helps.
I love Duo and it’s my go to video caller, But for some reason the ringtone is the same as my text notifications! With no way to change it. This is a huge inconvenience, I hardly ever hear it or pay attention to it. I use Duo very often, my girlfriend lives out of state so this is the best thing we have to keep in touch. I constantly miss her calls because of this issue. Why can’t we have the option to change the ringtone. Update! The developers immediately assisted me in my issue, issue fixed!
Google is constantly creating new video and chat apps and discarding old ones with no rhyme or reason, and Duo is another great example. It works fine but doesn’t play well with the desktop and is missing features we had in Hangouts – no way to add participants once you start a call, no way to share screen, etc. I imagine in a year this app will be shut down as well and we’ll have to learn a new one.
This is an ongoing learning experience for me. For now, I find it far easier to be a recipient in calls than an initiator as I still have to learn a bit more in feeling comfortable with the virtual experience, especially when vulnerable as well as the mechanics. All in all, calls are clear and rarely freeze. Almost as good as chatting with a person in a live circumstance. A good phone makes for a better experience. Freezing is the one issue that can be annoying, especially if it drops the call.
I don’t know what’s been happening in the last couple months, but I can’t get a hold of anyone, and they can’t get a hold of me. It just does that ring BEFORE it connects and NEVER connects. It used to be so reliable. I’ve tried restarting my phone, the app, making sure I had wifi, trying it with no wifi, etc. It just won’t make any calls anymore. Also, like others, I don’t get notifications unless I actually open the app. Usually it’s a missed call because the other person can’t get through.
I don’t know what’s been happening in the last serveral months, but I can’t get a hold of anyone, and they can’t get a hold of me. It just does that ring BEFORE it connects and NEVER connects. It used to be so reliable. I’ve tried restarting my phone, the app, making sure I had wifi, trying it with no wifi, etc. It just won’t make any calls anymore. Same as other users.
Great app for video calling! I love this app a ton, and its very useful for when Im a long distance from home, and wanna see my family again! And you can very quickly find the person you want to call as soon as you open the app. And I cant stress it enough, but the QUALITY of the video calls! Truly amazing and there are very few bugs, especially for the really buggy phone I have. Great app for video calls. I absolutley reccommend!
I have a Google Nest Hub Max at home which I use extensively for video calling with Duo. I used to be able to call it by selecting the “Call Home Devices” option at the top of the contacts list, but that option doesn’t work anymore. When I select it, it just goes back to the contact screen. Google apps have been getting buggier and buggier lately, and it’s so disappointing that Google can’t seem to make reliable apps anymore.
Insanely buggy and inconsistent, the camera toggle as well as the extra effects button simply don’t show up in calls MOST of the time. So if you open Snapchat or any other application that uses the camera, Duo will just toggle off the camera with no way to turn it back on other than restarting the call. You’d think Google could get their own apps to work on their own phones but I guess it’s my bad for commiting the sin of having an android phone for more than 2 years. What a joke.
Just recently been using this app and it’s pretty good so far. I was still using Skype before this and the video calls just keeps buffering and it got annoying. So I was looking for an alternative or replacement and discovered this pre-installed app and never knew anything about it. Just out of curiosity,I open the app and tried it out. Video calls are always smooth and connects fast, I highly recommend this app for videos calls.
It’s generally very clear, it can get a bit choppy at times, but that’s probably a connection issue. I’ve never really run into any problems with this. My kids use it on their non activated phones to keep in touch while WiFi is available. Thanks Google duo! What a lovely option for video calling!!
Google Duo does not work well with Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. I don’t know whether the issue is the phone or the app, but the phone does not have problem with other apps. I have been using it for more than a year and it never got fixed. It has issues with noise and hearing my own voice. It also mutes the other person while I am talking. By muting I mean it cuts the other person’s voice off. August update: it has not yet fixed those issues I mentioned in April.
I love this app I use it a lot .the best thing about the app there is no adds . You can have lots of people to call on one screen. You can also add some contacts to your home a screen. Some times the calls are not clear. It’s like calling some one but you can see them and you can have a group call.You can send notes and videos.The only thing I call on a phone now and I don’t have affects anymore. I hope that helps ☺
Horrible. Never rings, I get missed calls 20min after they have called. Doesn’t ring when I call other people either. Tried reinstalling and resetting the settings. Edit: Googles response is wrong. Calls don’t ring at all, receiving or calling. If I get notified of a call, I get notified after someone has already called so I don’t even get a chance to answer it. Google is getting rid of Duo so find a different app that actually works.
Everything is good except how it handles the mic. Durning a call background noise is always amplified horribly. A lot of times it even cuts out the audio from other person from minimal noise on my end. Makes it unusable at times. ….. Edit: Yeah thanks for reply Google but that doesn’t help. This is a known issue across many devices. You just need to fix your code. Or give us an option to change the mic sensitivity like most apps have.
This app was great but now I don’t get notifications that I have an incoming call or that I miss a call. I’ve done everything on support pages, everything on the Google suggested links and still nothing works. It appears multiple people have this same issue. So that tells me it’s not the user but the app. Fix this. It will drive people to go to iPhone if not.
Duo is fine except that the video direction gets easily messed up between callers such that one person will end up sideways and there is nothing to do to fix it. It is super annoying. The image and sound more frequently becomes choppy and messed up than FaceTime but since that is not available on my Google phone I use Duo mostly. I like that it syncs access through my contacts and on the messages as well. Just wish it weren’t so buggy, but honestly that most of Google phone apps.
Great calling app. No questions. It is the minor bugs which did me from giving a 5 star. 1. The volume of the other party becomes too low all of a sudden while connected to Bluetooth. This gets fixed mostly if I disconnect and call again. But this is happening too often. 2. Overlapping calls. When I’m in a call in Duo and some one else calls me on my phone, the duo call is NOT getting put on hold and instead that too tensions active, creating confusions.
On my Chromebook, the layout of the buttons and the image is messed up. When I open the app, I see myself in the selfie camera. Off to the left, there is some reserved space for contacts and such, however, the buttons overlap the video image somewhat, making them hard to read. I don’t know if it has any effect on the functionality, but it’s visually unappealing.
Great! I have my weekly therapy sessions on Duo and it works out wonderfully. We can see and talk to each other. I am wondering about the upcoming changes and hope Duo doesn’t change too much. Doesn’t need much improvement. One area that does need improvement is the contacts. Duo doesn’t seem to sync its contact list with my current contacts list. When I look at the Duo contact listing, there are many contacts l’ve deleted long ago still listed there.
There are a ton of bugs that prevent you from answering the duo call and the stability could use some work when on the call. I would rather use Instagram or another app to video call. I’ve even considered going back to apple for facetime as much as I hate that idea. But I’m loyal to android for it’s customizable os. Fix this and you’ve got a great tool.
If you need to video chat I highly recommend NOT using Google Duo. To begin with it is aggressive and just pops up out of nowhere for no reason. But the WORST feature is that when you are in a phone call, all it takes is a slip of your finger and you can be visible on video to the person on the other end w/o notification and much to the confusion of everybody! Stick with Facetime, Zoom or ANY other video chat app
I enjoyed seeing my family however it doesn’t show them full screen & froze up some at different times I don’t know if it was them moving around. It had to reconnect. Just seeing them made it all worthwhile & I look forward to using the duo app again & more often as well. Thank you so very much bc it’s quite a difference than just talking on the phone& not being able to see what’s going on. It’s really nice to be able to connect with them in action seeing as best as I can. I’m truly grateful. Ty
My voice video call went smooth. My Android S21 didn’t have it, or I guess, maybe it is my phone carrier that didn’t have it. But, Duo remedied that issue. ( Before, I did not see that app. on my phone. ) it just appeared one day on my phone, strange. Really. I don’t remember downloading it. Anyway. I like the option. Thank you.
Excellent and video was so clear we could see the planet Venus in the night sky during a 3 way video. UPDATE- While the video is always perfect, the sound continually cuts in and out when communicating with Iphone users. Many times the Iphone users complain of an echo. I lowered my rating to 4 stars. They even purchased new Iphones and the problem continues. This needs to be fixed. This doesn’t happen with a regular phone call, which is always perfectly clear. We use WIFI calling features.
Every time I go on this app the video seems to be blurry and choppy, most of the time pixelated, the voices will cut in and cut out anytime they want and then speed up. Every time I report the issue nothing is ever done or I never get an email back, which makes me really upset because the quality is not very good. I give it two stars because I can at least video chat with people on here but the quality isn’t good. I definitely recommend another app to video chat if your looking for one.
Edit. I went to the help site listed in the Response. All of the advice , allow to run in background etc, I already do. The tips page did not tell me anything new. …….Not getting any notifications of incoming video calls. All notifications are On. The app Has been updated. My phone is up to date, Android 11. Cache has been cleared. There is no option to uninstall, so I can reinstall.
Works like it’s supposed to. Would have given 5stars if it had some additional functionality, like being able to see both video when in picture-in-picture, or filters, etc., says there is some features in the pictures shown on the play store….but I wasn’t able to find. Them in the actual app.
Low volume after speaker used for incoming call or notification. Works fine until this, but whenever any other application “takes over” the speaker to play a notification or ringtone, after that it’s no longer in speakerphone mode and can’t be changed. I have to either put it near my ear, on a video call, or hang up and call back.
Great video quality. Perfect way to stay socially distant, and yet, still keep in touch with your friends and family!! The updates are wonderful. Much better reception, clearer pictures, and no dropped calls anymore. The absolute best calling app!! You won’t be disappointed with your experience.
Unable to receive a notification when someone calls. I only receive a notification of a missed call and have to call back. Other than that glitch, app is really cool and useful. Its easy to use. My son and I use it all the time. But please help me figure out the notification setting for android. It appears locked or unavailable to turn on.
I used to love duo. I never had issues outside of bad video quality every once in a while. But over the last couple weeks, I am unable to receive calls from anyone. My phone doesn’t even ring and I’m only notified of missed calls when I open the duo app. I’m starting to get really frustrated as I normally have nightly video calls with my long distance best friend, but lately he’s had to text me to tell me he isn’t able to get through. Don’t know how to fix this, but it does need fixed ASAP.
Used to be a great app, but it has a critical flaw: It automatically switches to my Mobile Data stating “Poor Wi-Fi, switching to Mobile Data.” No Google, just no. My WiFi is great and is vastly faster, with much better latency. This is the only app with this issue, and it shows a terrible QA by Google’s Engineering & Product teams. Edit: Turning Mobile Data off isn’t a solution. STOP automatically switching to Mobile Data when my WiFi is 10x faster with 4x lower latency. Only an issue with Duo
The quality is excellent with zero lag. The calls are all crystal clear as well. I have got my entire family to install the app. UPDATE 06/01/2022: I have been using this app since is came out. At first it was awesome, but in the past two years or so, the echo has been difficult to deal with. It is so bad that I have to end the call and use a different app. It doesn’t even help using earbuds. It only makes it worse. I am really hoping this gets fixed.
Very basic for what it is, it works great. Would like it to have more chat options like most other platforms. Update 6/7/22 I like Duo but it’s just too basic, most my friends and family have moved on to other apps that provide all of what Duo has with more advanced features that are now standard. Unless meaningful changes are made I don’t see Duo lasting the duration and going the way of many other video and messaging apps that didn’t cut the mustard.