14 DAY TRIAL // About one week ago, Google released one of the most anticipated applications that it had been working on, Duo. The video messaging app was first announced during Google I/O, alongside Allo messaging app, which has yet to be released.
A few days after it was released to Android and iOS, Duo quickly climbed to the first position in the Play store, surpassing big names in the industry, like Facebook, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat.
Sundar Pichai announced that Duo managed to gather over 5 million downloads on Android smartphones in about a week since its release.
It's quite an impressive performance considering that the application only offers a few basic features. However, the application's appeal comes from its simplistic interface and the fact that Duo has the capacity to maintain video conversations and not drop the call because of possible connection issues.
In fact, Google implemented a tool that allows Duo app to quickly switch WiFi and mobile data, so that the connection wouldn't be lost. Another neat feature that Duo incorporates is a tool that displays a video of the caller before the receiver actually picks up and starts the conversation.
This would help users identify callers easier and even avoid calls that they might not want to pick up, as they can see the expression on the face of the caller beforehand.
Google Duo now over 5M Android downloads in a week! https://t.co/ctwn131gYq — sundarpichai (@sundarpichai) August 25, 2016