Google Duo Is Undergoing Server-Side Test for Group Video Calling

• Google is currently testing a group video calling feature for Duo that was first announced in March 2018.
• The app seeks to rival the likes of FaceTime and Skype with the feature.
• The feature allows up to 8 people in a single call at best.

Google’s luck with social media apps has been nothing to write home about with apps like Hangouts, Google Talk and more recently, Google Plus shutting down. The tech giant launched Duo in a hope to break into the video call app segment, but competitors like FaceTime and Skype continued to dominate.

Google first announced that it is working on a group video calling feature for Duo in March last year. While the feature has been around on most popular messaging apps, it’s great to see Google finally bringing in some much-needed changes. FaceTime received its group calling feature last year with support for up to 32 people in a single call, and it seems like Duo will be limited to just seven.

The feature is currently in testing and if you want to see if you are part of the internal test, simply head to the Duo app and see if you can add more than one contact to a video call. Another gripe many users who are part of the test have is the inability to add people to an ongoing call. It is entirely possible that Google will fix these issues at launch as the company is collecting feedback from beta testers at this point.

One of the good things about the new feature on the Duo app is that groups stay created even after a call is ended. You can simply tap on the saved group and initiate another call. A dark mode is also being added to the app to make it easier for users to use the app in the dark. Currently, there is no word on when the feature will go live for all users, but we can expect the rollout to happen at least a couple weeks away, which is the average time that server tests for Google apps run for.

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