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Hands-On With Google's New FaceTime-Like 'Duo' App

Sefstah said:
You make it sound like Android devices will hack all your personal belongings, steal your money, spread viruses and completely ruin your life. If that were true, Android wouldn't sell more devices than iOS. But they do. A lot more! And iPhone has been on the decline in case you forgot. Is it making sense to you yet? Time to make the switch or keep making excuses for your oudated overpriced hardware and restricted OS of a phone.
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I don't know about that, seems to work for Microsoft windows pretty well.
 
I like the app but like many have said, unless people know about it and go download it then the app is worthless. Not a single person I know will be aware of this apps existence.
 
Sefstah said:
You make it sound like Android devices will hack all your personal belongings, steal your money, spread viruses and completely ruin your life. If that were true, Android wouldn't sell more devices than iOS. But they do. A lot more! And iPhone has been on the decline in case you forgot. Is it making sense to you yet? Time to make the switch or keep making excuses for your oudated overpriced hardware and restricted OS of a phone.
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What excuses do I need to make? My Apple devices work great together and I am happy using them.

It's the people who keep ragging on others for their choice of smartphone that amaze me. I can't for one fathom why they could possibly have an issue with what sort of phone other people are using, as though it impacts them on some emotional and psychological level.
 
xero9 said:
I know Apple is big now, but look at RIM with BBM. They held out on making it cross-platform until they were well beyond irrelevant. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but the same could happen with iMessage/FaceTime.
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iMessage has never been relevant where i live. People just don't use it at all, since everyone has whatsapp and it's not practical to use more than one app to message people with.
 
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Nozuka said:
iMessage has never been relevant where i live. People just don't use it at all, since everyone has whatsapp and it's not practical to use more than one app to message people with.
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This is exactly the same as my experience, I don't text/iMessage anyone, everyone uses WhatsApp.
 
Zirel said:
[doublepost=1471404240][/doublepost]

It can (iOS 10).

But don't worry, Google will make sure you don't delete Allo and Duo on your next phone (because that's the only way you'll ever get an update, even on relatively recent Nexus phones!)
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Lies! Apple will only HIDE the FaceTime app from the home screen instead of deleting it. Research before you spit crap.

And when people start to hide and deactivate FaceTime/iMessage, then what Apple has built for all these years will start going down the drain because now there could be more people who has iPhones/iPads but "deleted" the FT app and therefore cannot be communicated through that platform. Basically it's going to be no better than Duo. (ahem, actually Duo will be better because at LEAST it's cross-platform)

Regarding what Google would do next with Allo and Duo, that's YOUR assumption. It's not a fact.
 
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Sefstah said:
You make it sound like Android devices will hack all your personal belongings, steal your money, spread viruses and completely ruin your life. If that were true, Android wouldn't sell more devices than iOS. But they do. A lot more! And iPhone has been on the decline in case you forgot. Is it making sense to you yet? Time to make the switch or keep making excuses for your oudated overpriced hardware and restricted OS of a phone.
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http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/man-in-row-with-bank-over-hacked-phone

Just one of the high profile ones, but there are quite a few Android using friends of mine who have been hit.
[doublepost=1471428322][/doublepost]Duo is not any better than Skype. And no one really gives a **** about anything other than Facetime (apple people) and Skype (rest of world) anyway.

Look at how Hangouts turned out for countries outside the States.
 
pika2000 said:
Biggest challenge for this? It's not pre-installed on either iPhones or Android phones. So to use it, users on either platforms have to be aware of the app to begin with, and then convince their friends to use it. That's really tough. It's like trying to push yet another messaging platform.

Next question is, when will Google shut it down?
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Google will make it pre-installed on future Android phones. So it will be on a par with FaceTime on iOS.
 
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I just downloaded the app and logged in. The first thing I did was to turn off the Knock Knock feature! Then I looked in the contacts list and not one non-iPhone person in my list yet has the Duo app.
 
SandboxGeneral said:
I just downloaded the app and logged in. The first thing I did was to turn off the Knock Knock feature! Then I looked in the contacts list and not one non-iPhone person in my list yet has the Duo app.
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Yeah but when was this released? I don't even have my Android phone yet but when I get it, in putting Duo on it because my husband and I use FaceTime all the time and we were wondering what we would use on our Note 7s in place of FT.

And I'm putting this on the family phones so the rest of the family can video chat with the few friends they have who aren't on IOS. I don't think it will be a problem to get those few moms I know on Android to download this as they were asking me if FT could work on Android. Unlike some of the other apps out there, this one isn't tied to other services or features we want our kids walled off from. It's just straightforward video chat we moms and dads can monitor in the same room.

Hey it's, nice to have cross platform options whether or not FT is king of the hill. I'm not knocking it until I've tried it, anyway.
 
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Most likely wont catch on. The beauty of imessage/facetime is its preinstalled. No need to download anything, its there and works great.
 
Zaft said:
Most likely wont catch on. The beauty of imessage/facetime is its preinstalled. No need to download anything, its there and works great.
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This will be pre-installed on all new Android phones as well as Allo, I'm guessing.
 
Manatlt said:
Lies! Apple will only HIDE the FaceTime app from the home screen instead of deleting it. Research before you spit crap.

And when people start to hide and deactivate FaceTime/iMessage, then what Apple has built for all these years will start going down the drain because now there could be more people who has iPhones/iPads but "deleted" the FT app and therefore cannot be communicated through that platform. Basically it's going to be no better than Duo. (ahem, actually Duo will be better because at LEAST it's cross-platform)

Regarding what Google would do next with Allo and Duo, that's YOUR assumption. It's not a fact.
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It will hide it, sure. Removing the app isn't really going to result in anything that's more useful, it doesn't take up much space.
 
My wife (Android phone) and I (iPhone) both downloaded it and tested it out yesterday. Works great, not a lot of lag. We did lose video after I went off the house WiFi mid-call and onto 4G, but audio stayed connected. You can't move the little bubble with your picture in it like you can with FaceTime, but that's minor.
 
IGI2 said:
Google will make it pre-installed on future Android phones. So it will be on a par with FaceTime on iOS.
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Which phones? Nexus only? Many Android phones don't even come with Chrome pre-installed so I doubt Google can force OEMs to include this. I mean Google cannot even force OEMs to push security patches.
Plus, knowing Google, they might not be patient enough to wait that long before pulling the plug. We have seen Google services come and gone rather quickly.
 
pika2000 said:
Which phones? Nexus only? Many Android phones don't even come with Chrome pre-installed so I doubt Google can force OEMs to include this. I mean Google cannot even force OEMs to push security patches.
Plus, knowing Google, they might not be patient enough to wait that long before pulling the plug. We have seen Google services come and gone rather quickly.
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My S7 came with a google folder with loads of their apps installed ready to go.
 
pika2000 said:
Do you have a source saying that this app will be pre-installed on Android devices?
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It has just been released so nothing sure for now, but:

Duo’s success will likely be linked with how many Android smartphones come with it pre-installed. Hangouts is one of the 11 apps that Google insists come pre-installed on every Android smartphone or tablet that has access to the Play Store.
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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/16/duo-video-calling-app-google-android
[doublepost=1471466299][/doublepost]Hangouts was preinstalled, I guess Duo as a replacement for the masses, without the need for any sign-in will be adopted even faster and easier, doesn’t matter what gmail account is connected, as long as you have the same number (sim card) as your friends have saved.
 
It would be nice if apple opened up imessage and facetime to android.
It would either:
  • Convert Android people to IOS because they liked imessage/facetime so much or
  • Give not many reasons to stay on IOS.
 
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