Displaying items by tag: FaceTime

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic which has struck the entire world, forcing it into a great global lockdown, social distancing has become key to our survival.

This has caused an enormous growth in meeting apps such as Google Hangouts and especially Zoom.

Zoom has gained a lot of traction over the past few weeks, especially in the UAE, as the government eased restrictions on various VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) platforms such as Skype for Business and Google Hangouts and made Zoom available to the public.

One of Zoom’s key features is that it could host calls with up to 100 participants which has been the go-to for consumers all over the world in times of social distancing.

While WhatsApp is one of the most prominent messaging apps in the world, it now faces fierce competition since Zoom has taken the market by storm with its unique features. Due to this, it has been speculated that WhatsApp plans to introduce a new feature which will essentially enable group calls which would exceed the current limit of 4 users per call.

A report by WABetaInfo, a fan website which tracks WhatsApp’s latest updates, revealed, “WhatsApp, probably due to the concerns for the COVID-19 and the fact that more users are using group calls, has decided to extend that limit to allow calls with more participants.”

Adding that, “All participants will have to be on the most recent WhatsApp version for iOS and Android to be able to participate in a bigger group call.”

Zoom has very quickly become a key player in the VoIP market as of late. Apple’s FaceTime can support up to 32 people in a group call whilst Facebook Messenger can support a maximum of 50 people; this places Zoom at the forefront.

US technology behemoth Apple is under-fire following the stunning revelation that its FaceTime app was allowing users to listen to audio from the phone of the person they’re calling even if the recipient hadn’t picked it up.

Google recently launched a new simple video-calling service available for Android and iOS called Google Duo. It’s the second app announced by Google this year - along with the upcoming messaging app Allo - at its I/O conference, and reportedly one of four that the company plans to introduce. It didn’t take long for comparisons to emerge calling Duo Google’s answer to Apple’s FaceTime.

What notably stands out about Google Duo is the way it makes one-to-one video calling between Android phones and from Android to iPhone, very simple. Apple’s FaceTime still holds an advantage over the new app since FaceTime doesn’t have to be downloaded as an app since it comes embedded in compatible iPhones. But Duo’s simplicity is what is winning Android users over.

Google is known for often mirroring Apple and offering its services to Apple customers such as Google Maps, Google Photos and Google Docs, which were compelling alternatives to Apple’s proprietary apps such as Apple Maps, Photos and Notes. Google made things simpler for users by making its services available for a wider variety of devices, including Macs, Window PCSs, Android and iPhones.

In a blog post by Google, the company made a subtle reference to Apple’s tendency to make its services exclusive, saying: “You shouldn’t have to worry about whether your call will connect, or if your friend is using the same type of device as you are.” It feeds into Google’s strategy to attract iPhone users over to Android. “It’s no wonder that nearly half of us never make video calls on mobile,” the blog reads. “Today, we’re releasing Google Duo – a simple 1-to-1 video calling app for Android and iOS. Duo takes the complexity out of video calling, so that you can be together in the moment wherever you are.”

The app has been praised for its simplicity, which sounds great, but what does that really mean? According to the blog post, “Duo is simple from start to finish.” The app uses your phone number and connects you to the contacts listed in your phone’s contact list. What’s great about the app is that you don’t need a separate contact list, like you do for an app like Snapchat. Once Duo has your contact list, you can begin video calling your contacts as long as they have also downloaded the app.

Google claims that its new app is “fast and reliable” playing to the notion that we “all know how it feels when a call fails to connect or when video gets choppy”. Duo is designed to operate fast and reliably, even when it’s being used on a slower network. If you’re calling a friend on a weak network, the call quality will adjust to changing network conditions to make sure the call doesn’t disconnect when bandwidth is limited. In doing so, the resolution of the call will reduce, but the call will keep going. The app can also switch seamlessly between Wi-Fi and cellular data, making it easy to talk to someone on the go.

Arguably Duo’s most innovative feature is called Knock Knock. It addresses an issue we can all relate to, when someone is calling you, and you ignore the call because you don’t know what the person calling wants. “To make calls feel more like an invitation rather than an interruption, we created 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,” the blog post explains.

Adding a bit of controversy into the mix, Google also built Duo with an “emphasis on privacy and security” by promising that all calls made over the app are end-to-end encrypted. In recent news, France is trying to crackdown on instant encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp and Telegram because they are popularly used by terrorists to plan attacks. But from a user’s perspective, with Duo’s end-to-end encryption, as well as its simple template and reliability, the app is sure to be a hit.