Live data from Hacker News

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

googleblog.blogspot.com

351–360 of 379 posts

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

#351
post #327
post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this requires you and all your friends to sign up to yet another system, with yet another account. "Try this app, at has some features that may or may not make it into Hangouts" is not a great sell for my friends.

You don't even need a google account, just a phone number

But don't you need a Google account to download the app on the Play Store?

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

#354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a big reason for this is that in Europe people frequently move between countries, eg for school or work or vacation. This often means changing SIM cards and local phone number. So it makes sense to use whatsapp because it's data based and you can keep the same account across SIM card changes.

That's actually a bug-feature: whatsapp is supposed to be tied to a phonenumber. For example, take this use case: you have whatsapp with a german number. You go to italy. You get an italian sim. You get a new phone. Result: you can not use your german whatsapp. There is no way you can activate your german whatsapp account without yout german sim.

That's why you keep your original sim around (receiving an sms from abroad isn't very expensive and that's enough for re activating your account). And you can transfer your account to a different number as well.

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

#355
post #224
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.

AndroidPolice has an article today[1] that Hangouts has failed as an all-in-one messaging platform. They're going to focus it in on the enterprise - where usage is much more prevalent, apparently - whatever that means. Hangouts is likely to become a Google Apps Slack competitor, I guess. [1]: http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/08/16/google-planning-focu...

Many people/companies use hangouts for video conferencing because all of the solutions in the space suck in one way or another.

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

#356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, Google Search and Gmail were REALLY GOOD back when Google made really good products, and they both seem to be treated as sacred there. Neither has received truly radical changes to fit with Google's new and often transient business focuses. Had Google made the mistake of replacing Gmail with Inbox, Gmail would've gone the way of everything else Google's done lately. But it seems like someone rightfully has ensu…

Inbox is actually great but it's definitely not a replacement for Gmail. It's a very different concept IMO

It was intended to replace Gmail, until Google found out even Googlers hated it.

> The Gmail team did not have to wait for the reaction for long. And it wasn’t very “googly.” It caused an uproar teeming with disgust for just about every decision the Gmail product/design team made. Phrases like, “You guys just completely destroyed Gmail!” and “What are these crazy designers doing over there?!” were everywhere. From being spoken at many of Google’s cafes to every internal online forum.[0]

[0] https://techcrunch.com/2014/11/16/why-did-google-decide-to-s...

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

#357
post #83

>a feature in Duo called Knock Knock which lets you see live video of your caller before you answer, giving you a sense of what they’re up to and why they want to chat Where can I report this as a bug? That literally misses the point of "call". Call starts before it's started for a caller.

Does Knock Knock offer the same possibilities as chat roulette?

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

#358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Has it really? Absolutely and without a question. You will find exceptions here and there where the integration was done poorly or ultimately didn't make sense but the idea around providing integrated experiences is eliminating friction. Smart phones are fast but switching from one application to another is incredibly slow . Yes it's easy and yes you can download special launchers to slightly improve this but the f…

If all your focusing on is UI, than yeah, sure, I guess. I think things are more complicated than that though.

I'm only focusing on UX. Sometimes that's UI. Sometimes that's APIs. Sometimes that's shell commands. UX covers a wide range of items from casual users to hardcore software developers.

The best UX typically wins. If the implementation is complex or not is immaterial.

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

#359
post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but with Android's market share, it's pretty compelling to be able to do a "FaceTime" with anyone. That's the larger opportunity. Many people have iPhones because of FaceTime. If Google can show that you can Duo anyone and it works as well, then they may switch, perhaps even to their very own Nexus devices. I'm not sure I personally like this app because I'm on Android and I used to have an excuse to not FaceTi…

> True, but with Android's market share, it's pretty compelling to be able to do a "FaceTime" with anyone. That's the larger opportunity. Assuming it ends up on all Android phones. Which is a big assumption.

I believe Duo will be added to the next Android release. It will take awhile for devices to get of course, but that's a big advantage.

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

#360
post #92

I don't have a number on my Pad...there is not even a Sim in there. Why can't it be just their damn Google account?! I dont even want to give my phone number to them and when I'm in a foreign country i don't want them to easy Switch between WiFi and the super expensive Roaming just because I went in the wrong corner of the Hotel room...

The device you activate Duo on doesn't need a sim. Just put in your phone's number and you can activate when it comes through.
Post reply on HN