Google Duo will soon allow you to make group calls in Chrome

Google’s Duo video chat app will soon allow you to make group video calls on the web, the search company announced today. That could be a practical way to catch up with your friends and family while you distance yourself socially during the COVID-19 pandemic, though group call participants will need a Google account to join, Google says. The feature will launch as a preview in Chrome in the coming weeks.

There’s also a new “family mode” in Duo, allowing you to draw on the screen in real time and apply Snapchat-like skins and effects to yourself. Duo will hide the mute and hang buttons while in family mode so you can scribble and play without having to worry about accidentally dropping the call, Google says. Family mode is available if you are using Duo while connected to your Google account. Here is an image of what it looks like:

Image: Google

Snapchat-like skins and effects will also be available on individual calls you make on Android and iOS, Google says. The first ones will be released this week, including this terrifying mask that turns you into a flower to celebrate Mother’s Day:

Last month, Google said it would implement the AV1 video codec for Duo calls to improve the quality of video calls, introducing a side-by-side photography mode and increasing the size of Duo group calls from eight to 12. You can see a lot of the features of Google Duo in action in this promotional video:

Duo is now under the domain of Javier Soltero, who is the vice president and general manager of G Suite, Google announced yesterday. That means he now oversees Duo and Google Meet, Google’s other video calling service, but Soltero has no immediate plan to change or integrate any of Google’s messaging and communications apps, my colleague Dieter Bohn said yesterday. Historically, Meet has been a business-focused app, but Google made it free for everyone last week.