Facetime has always been a great video calling app that allows iPhone users to facetime their contacts with one on one video calling. Unveiled at Google I/O, Duo lets you make one-on-one video calls with anyone else who has the app. To add or call friends all you have to do is use their phone number. While the accounts are linked to your phone number, its’s also linked to your Google account.
It has a pretty sweet feature called Knock Knock, which lets you see live video of you friend before they pick up. Beyond the knock knock feature, there is little difference between Hangouts, Facetime, or other video messaging apps.
Google’s goal for Duo is mainly simplicity. It’s built with encrypted video calling and adjusts you video resolution based on your phone’s connection. The only real way Google is going to sell Duo is to make a great app. It’s not integrated with their other services like Hangouts so making connections is new, and further fragments Google’s messaging platforms.
I’m excited to see how Duo performs; I’m not too big of a fan of Facetime, so I’d recommend giving it a try and letting us know what you think in the comments below!