Over the last few months, people have increasingly relied on video calling services for communication. As such, services like Google Duo have steadily added features to make video chat easier and better.
Previously, Google announced plans to add group call link invite codes to the platform back in May. Now that feature is showing up in Duo version 89, as spotted by Android Police.
Link codes work as you’d expect. When you create a new group call, Duo provides a link that you can copy and send to other people. When someone clicks the link, it opens Duo and shows them the group members before they join. Unfortunately, it only works on mobile for now as the Duo web client doesn’t support group calls (but that’s set to change).
If you’ve already got a group call set up, there are still a couple of ways to get invite codes. The first is during an ongoing call. Users simply click the three-dot menu button in the bottom right and then tap ‘Share link’ to generate a code. Alternatively, if you created a group call but the call isn’t currently taking place, you can select it from Duo’s main menu, then tap the ‘Share’ icon in the top right corner. You’ll be able to copy the link or select an app to share it with.
Android Police reports that invite links are live in Duo version 89 and 91. Further, they appear to be activated server-side and live for most users.
Invite links come as Google continues to improve Duo to make video calling better. Recently, the company expanded group calls to 12 participants, removed the need for a phone number on tablets and added a web interface. At the same time, Duo continues to grow as the services adds more new users.
Source: Android Police
