Google Assistant has grown by leaps and bounds over the course of 2018 with more skills and actions. Some of those have been in Android, some of those in Google Home, and expansion of both has been happening globally. Now another new feature is available for Assistant users on Android: The ability to make Google Duo video calls straight from it.
Now, instead of having to open up the Google Duo app on your phone, you can simply open up Google Assistant and say, “Hey Google, make a video call to…” the person you want to call. Once Assistant confirms the contact and number, you are dropped into Duo to have your call.
The ability to access Google Duo is another step in a long series that Google is making to have Assistant be the center of your day. This adds to the new functionality added over the course of the past few months in the wake of Google I/O.
The challenge, of course, is that Google Duo isn’t exactly the most popular of Google apps and to say that their video calling app story is messy is being, well, kind. It is confusing at best and frustrating at worse but the company has seemed to draw lines in the sand: Duo is for consumers, Hangouts Meet is for the Enterprise, and Hangouts Classic will stick around until they can deprecate it.
Make A Video Call With Google Duo from Google Assistant
This new feature to Google Assistant is broadly rolling out now so you should have it already.
