Google Duo, the video calling app by the search giant, has added support 12 person group calling. The announcement of the was made by Sanaz Ahari, Sr. Director of Product and Design at Google, through a Twitter post. Acknowledging the importance of group calling in the current situation, Sanaz shared that the feature will be in effect from today itself. With people staying home in order to flatten the coronavirus curve, group calling and messaging is the only way left for communication especially in work from home scenarios.
The Twitter post reads, “We are grateful that Duo is helping users see their loved ones all around the world. We recognise group calling is particularly critical right now. We have increased group calling from 8 participants to 12 effective today. More to come. #AllInThisTogether #COVID19.” The new addition comes as great news for people who use Google Duo as their primary video calling app.
At the time of launch back in 2016, Google Duo did not support group video calling. Last year, Google finally decided to add group calling support for up to four people. In about a month, Google added support for up to eight people in a single group call. Now, as stated by the Sr. Director of Product and Design at Google, Google Duo will support up to 12 people in a single group call.
There is no update for 12 person group calling. You can open the app and add 11 people in a group and start chatting. As you open the app, swipe up to show your contacts, tap on the Create group option and add up to 11 people. Then, tap Done at the bottom of the screen. You will be given an option to name the group after which you can tap Start and the app will start dialling the added contacts.
The Web version of Google Duo however, still does not support group calling.