Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#241

Post by _wp3r » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:18 PM UTC

eeeeeeeeeeeee wrote: post #233

dzmien wrote: post #189

Why didn't they just update hangouts? I actually use hangouts for video calls with relative frequency, and I wish it was better adapted to changes in network speed like they say Duo is. I think it would be better if "Duo" was just integrated into hangouts as an update. I like hangouts because it allows me to use one app for voice, text and video.

Seriously. The entire Google Hangouts experience is extremely unfriendly and difficult to use. It's a great service, but the UX is awful. It's hard to get any non-technical person into a Hangouts call for the first time.

http://hangouts.google.com/start

That link can actually make it much easier for the use case you described. The url after it loads can be shared.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#242

Post by tgb » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:20 PM UTC

perseusprime11 wrote: post #201

ethanbond wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it wouldn't be Google with any fewer than 4 semi-competing apps in their own portfolio.

My guess is Duo will be like Inbox competing with gmail. I am guessing here but I think Google is on to something around innovation. They are launching innovative future facing apps without the constraints of legacy systems. They will use this approach to figure out which features work and back port them into their legacy apps. Not a bad approach if it works.

That's fine for an email client, but video chat requires network effect to be useful.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#243

Post by feelin_googley » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:21 PM UTC

nxc18 wrote: post #190

Wow, I'm so glad they made yet another video calling app. I was almost beginning to feel like I knew how to call the people I care about. So glad I'll start hearing 'I'll call you on Duo', which will be great when I'm at my desktop computer.

And it let's the caller see what you're doing before they call. Brilliant!

Of course, people like Zuckerberg can't use this feature because they cover up the camera lens on their laptops with tape.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#244

Post by abstractbeliefs » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:21 PM UTC

mxuribe wrote: post #234

abstractbeliefs wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

does anyone run matrix hosting that you don't need to care about, and is still reasonable about security and privacy? 99% of people will never run their own matrix server, and 98% of people will never pay $5/mo for a chat service. Basically, where can the general public sign up for a matrix account that's free, offers a good experience, and respects my rights?

Yeah good points, not everyone needs to host their own matrix.org home server; users can simply hop on existing ones. The one on matrix.org or vector.im are pretty robust and actually allows public registration (and you can have private rooms for privacy, etc.). Check out: http://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html or directly to https://vector.im Also, I should have stated, I hosted my home server on a vps,…

That sounds ideal, thank you. I'm generally increasingly convinced that while decentralised services are great for many powerusers, they too often shift too much of the burden onto users, vastly diminishing the market penetration of what are nominally good ideas.

Another example of this is the current IndieWeb movement, which while great, doesn't fix very much because 1) low penetration means you have to republish all your content back into proprietary silos, regranting them license to use that we're supposed to be escaping and 2) by forcing people to set up and develop their own platforms means that the majority of indieweb blogs are subtly incompatible through bugs and mostly suck up time that could be used blogging with time spent to fix the blog.

:(

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#245

Post by izacus » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:22 PM UTC

stephenr wrote: post #240

ethanbond wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any more info on trying to open source FaceTime? I've never heard of this before and seems interesting.

Jobs said it at the keynote when FaceTime was announced. They never managed to follow through, and ultimately had to change the way FaceTime works, because of a lawsuit by a patent troll.

Apple, richest company on the world, couldn't pay for a patent on their chat protocol to make it open? :/

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#246

Post by Nullabillity » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:23 PM UTC

simonh wrote: post #172

Nullabillity wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least it doesn't only run on Apple devices, like the complete joke that is FaceTime.

You'll need to explain that, I genuinely don't know what you say it. Facetime is just a feature. It's a calling option in contacts and any phone call to another iPhone can be turned into a facetime call at the push of a button. That means you don't even need to think about it. There's no install process, no configuration, no account to set up, it's just there. Furthermore because it can rely on guaranteed hardware fe…

It is a service, I don't see why it being integrated into some other app should matter.

It works for calling people who bought from the same brand as you, it doesn't work for the rest of people, and it pretends to work (WTF?) for people who used to have the same brand as you.

That's a very different bar from just needing to install an application.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#247

Post by camiller » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:25 PM UTC

feelin_googley wrote: post #243

nxc18 wrote: post #190

Wow, I'm so glad they made yet another video calling app. I was almost beginning to feel like I knew how to call the people I care about. So glad I'll start hearing 'I'll call you on Duo', which will be great when I'm at my desktop computer.

And it let's the caller see what you're doing before they call. Brilliant! Of course, people like Zuckerberg can't use this feature because they cover up the camera lens on their laptops with tape.

No, it lets the recipient of the call see the caller, so they can choose to answer or not. It does not let the caller see who they are calling before they answer. Also the tape on your laptop won't matter since it is phone only for now.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#248

Post by bigbugbag » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:25 PM UTC

syshum wrote: post #207

anentropic wrote: post #200

Hope it works better than Hangouts i.e. without randomly having to reboot your laptop before it will work

I can assure you that you will never have to reboot your laptop before it will work... as it will not work at all on your laptop. It is for Android and iOS only.

don't you know that you can run android apps on any computer that can run google chrome ? [1]

personally I stay far away from chrome and any thing google, so for running android apps on my laptop I go the emulator route [2], I use genymotion.

[1]: http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/3/8339197/android-apps-on-win... [2]: http://techapple.net/2014/05/5-best-android-emulators-linux-...

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#249

Post by _ea1k » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:26 PM UTC

abstractbeliefs wrote: post #142

Why would one use this when similar functionality (Hangouts video streaming) has just been killed and moved to Youtube Live?

Hangouts live streaming to large numbers of recipients has been killed (Hangouts On Air) in favor of its superior YouTube equivalent.

Hangouts video chat is still alive and well. Duo is the thing that will get hyped and abandoned in a year or so. Maybe then the features will get rolled into Hangouts and Messenger or something.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#250

Post by camiller » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:28 PM UTC

bogomipz wrote: post #175

abstractbeliefs wrote: post #142

Why would one use this when similar functionality (Hangouts video streaming) has just been killed and moved to Youtube Live?

Video Hangouts has been killed? Isn't Hangouts a business-centric offering, I haven't heard that its been killed. Its a large part of "Chrome for Work." At any rate these have different use cases, one is enterprise focused and the other is mobile only.

The hangouts-on-air live streaming was killed/moved to youtube. You can still do group video calls in hangouts, just not spin out a live stream for non-participant viewers.