Google Duo Is Getting Its Own Version of Facebook’s Infamous Poke Feature
- Mehedi Hassan
- Jun 21, 2019
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Although Google’s messaging app Allo didn’t succeed much or at all, the company’s video calling Duo app has been a massive success. Google has been consistently adding new features to the app, and it’s working on some new features for the app — at least on Android.
According to 9to5Google, the latest version of Google Duo hints at some upcoming features. The most notable feature being Ping — a new feature that will allow users to notify their contacts. The feature is meant to be used to show your contacts that “you care”. It sends a notification to the contact you contact, and from there they can ping you back or start a video call.
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You can send a “heart”, a “hug”, or a “wave” as the ping. And if this sounds familiar, you wouldn’t be wrong — Facebook had a similar feature called Poke that lets you basically do the same thing. Facebook’s Poke feature is mostly a joke, and no one really uses it anymore. Facebook’s Poke feature isn’t as prominent as it was years ago, though.
Along with Ping, Google Duo will also be getting some other features like an in-app call history feature that will let you see the past calls you have made with a certain person. You will also get to see pictures you have received from that person on the same page. And lastly, Google is also testing a low light mode that automatically adjusts the video to work better in dark environments.
These features are obviously just in testing for now, and it could take a while before Google actually enables them and rolls them out.