Google Duo launched last year as a video calling platform. Now, it’s set to let you make audio-only calls too.

Duo retro

Google Duo has hardly disrupted the video-call market, despite positive ratings from app users on both the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

Now, it's unveiling audio-only functionality that will let app users chat as if they’re on an old-fashioned phone – no video necessary.

Efficient competition

Audio-only calls promise to work more effectively on slower internet connections. They will also be more efficient in terms of data transfer and bandwidth usage.

Commercially however, Duo lags behind competitors like WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook. In that sense, this new feature is really playing catch-up.

Gradual rollout

Although audio-only has been touted as ‘coming soon’ since last year, it’s rollout will not be immediate. It launched first in Brazil, with other countries to follow. At the time of writing, it wasn’t available on my Nexus 5X.

There is speculation that the new functionality could be linked with an imminent push of Google Home—the search giant’s voice-activated assistant for households. If so, bring it on.

Let us know if this update would entice you to use Google Duo. 

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