Google Duo has rolled out support for adding up to 12 people on a group video call as rival Houseparty is busy taking the Internet by storm. Sanaz Ahari, Senior Director of Product and Design at Google announced the update to Duo on Twitter in wake of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
We are grateful that Duo is helping users see their loved ones all around the world. We recognize group calling is particularly critical right now. We have increased group calling from 8 participants to 12 effective today. More to come. #AllInThisTogether #COVID19March 27, 2020
Earlier, Google Duo supported a total of 8 people on a video call like all other popular video calling apps, except for Facebook Messenger that supports up to 50 people on a video call. With the new update, you can get together 12 of your friends or family members on the same video call and have a fun time together.
There's a surge in group video calling these days as countries are in lockdown, leaving people in self-quarantine to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. As such, a particular app is gaining a lot of traction on social media.
Chances are you might be aware of a new app that seems to have popped up from nowhere, Houseparty. The company considers itself a social networking platform and borrows certain elements that we've come to experience on mainstream apps like Snapchat and Instagram.
Houseparty is more like a casual take on video chatting and aims to make these conversations fun by adding trivia games to the app like Heads up, Chips and Guac, and quick draw. So you and your friends can play some games on the app while seeing each other's faces. You can also allow the app to connect to your Facebook account for adding friends quickly.
Houseparty is available on iOS, Android, macOS, and as a Chrome Extention for Windows; however, you can only play the built-in games on phones.
