Back in the day, "Skype me" was emotion like "Google it" but things have started change course slowly - at least in the case of the former. Google Duo is one of the prominent messaging apps that delivers best quality video calling service and the popular app is now getting two major features that will change the user experience forever.
Google announced on Friday that Duo users in India will receive an update that will allow group calling and data saving mode. Both these features are tailored for the Indian market after witnessing trends that helped Google decide their rollout.
"India is already the largest market for Duo globally, and we're committed to building for India, helping people have a seamless and delightful experience connecting with their loved ones face to face. As a part of that commitment, we are happy to announce two new features on Duo today: Group Calling and Data Saving Mode," Shweta Vaidya, Product Manager, Google Duo, said in a statement.
With the latest update, Google Duo's Group Calling feature will allow users to add up to 8 people simultaneously. Google discovered that 37 percent of Indian population moved away from their natives and nearly 60 percent of all Duo calls made in India include someone outside the top eight cities. In that case, the new group calling feature really makes sense.
But the other feature is what grabs the most attention. Although data has been made incredibly affordable in India, data consumption has been shot through the roof so users tend to exhaust their daily limit regularly. But Google Duo's Data Saving Mode will keep data consumption at a minimum while helping users connect with their loved ones.
According to Google, the data saving mode reduces data usage by up to 50 percent, which is a lot, and still manage to deliver high-quality video calls.
Both these features are available for Duo users in India. Android smartphone users can head over to the Play Store to update the app while iOS users need to wait a bit longer for the new features. After successful deployment in India, the data saving mode will make its way to Brazil and Indonesia soon and then to other markets shortly.
