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Google is letting you know that its Duo app has a major FaceTime feature

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By Alan Friedman

Updated: Sep 04, 2020, 8:58 AM

Google is letting you know that its Duo app has a major FaceTime feature

End-to-end-encryption. The phrase doesn't exactly roll off of your tongue, yet there is something satisfying about saying it. We recently told you that Google is testing end-to-end encryption for its Rich Communication Services (RCS) replacement for SMS and MMS on Android. After all, iOS users have enjoyed such protection when they dispatch an iMessage to another iOS user.

Besides iMessages, Apple says that FaceTime video chats are protected by end-to-end encryption. And now Google wants everyone to know that its video chat app also uses end-to-end encryption. Android Police discovered that Google is including a message when a user dials a phone number using the Duo app that says, "call is secured using end-to-end encryption" with a lock icon. The app has used e2ee (end-to-end encryption) for Duo since it was launched in 2016 and this might be the first time that many users are hearing about it. We should point out though e2ee is also mentioned on the app's Privacy in Duo page.

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Some lawmakers and law enforcement officials are not happy about apps sporting end-to-end encryption because it prevents them from reading a message that they have intercepted. Only the person sending the message and the one at the receiving end will be able to decipher it.

Google wants to promote the fact that its Duo video chat app uses end-to-end encryption

Another change to the Duo app adds more emoji that can be sent live or via a video message. There are now ten emoji that can be sent using Duo including a wave, a heart, thumbs up, a blown kiss, praying hands, the moon, the sun, a sad face, an exclamation point, and a sign. You can use more than one emoji at the same time when you are in the middle of a live video chat or sending a video message. Duo also will soon be able to handle as many as 32 calls at one time matching FaceTime's capabilities.

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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