The coronavirus pandemic has led to a nationwide lockdown in India and many other countries. This has further led to the surge in usage of video calling apps as people stay at home while maintaining social distancing. Google is capitalising the demand and updating its video-calling app, Google Duo, with a host of new features.
Last month, Google increased the participants limit from eight to 12 on its mobile app. The search engine giant has now confirmed another new Google Duo feature, this time for the Web.
Google will roll-out support for Google Duo group video calls on Chrome in the coming days. The update will also bring with it a new layout that will let users see more people at the same time. To make getting together easier, you’ll also be able to invite anyone with a Google account to join a group call with just a link.
Further, Google has also announced a new Family Mode that lets you doodle on video calls for everyone to see and also surprise them with fun effects and masks that transform you into astronauts, cats and more.
“Just start a video call, tap the menu icon and then tap Family to get started. You don’t have to worry about accidental mutes or hang-ups because we’ve hidden those buttons while you’re playing together,” Google said in its blog post.
Family mode will be available when a user signs in to Duo using their Google account. Google also says that calls on Duo are end-to-end encrypted.
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