
“Our year-to-date iPhone sales to switchers are the greatest we’ve seen in any nine-month period,” Mr. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, repeatedly highlighted that the rate at which people were switching from Android-based devices to iPhones was the highest the company had seen. When the iPhone maker reported falling sales last month, Timothy D. “If you can only call half the people you know, that’s very limiting.”Īpple does not profess to be worried by Google’s moves. “Our view is video calling should work for everybody,” he said. He said that Duo’s appeal was that it was simple to use, fast and more widely accessible.
The duo app android#
But he added that making Android more attractive to iPhone owners was a secondary motive. Nick Fox, Google’s head of communication products, said the top priority with Duo was to build a great product and to increase the use of video calling among Android users. Google’s apps generally work better on Android devices than on iPhones, so the more that people get hooked on Google’s core apps, the less incentive there is to stay loyal to Apple. adults never make video calls on mobile.”Īll of this feeds into Google’s strategy to attract iPhone users over to Android. “You shouldn’t have to worry about whether your call will connect, or if your friend is using the same type of device as you are,” Google said in a statement, in a veiled jab at Apple. But Duo lets you place video calls between Android and iPhone users, and sizably increases the universe of people with whom you can hold a video conversation. People can only use FaceTime to call others who have Apple devices. All of those apps were compelling alternatives to Apple’s proprietary apps, like Apple Maps, Photos and Notes, because they work on a wider variety of devices, including Macs, Windows PCs, Android devices and iPhones.ĭuo is no exception.
The duo app software#
Over the last few years, Google has increasingly offered its important software and internet services, including Google Maps, Google Photos and Google Docs, to iPhone customers.

The app fits squarely into Google’s playbook in mobile. On Tuesday, Google underscored that strategy with the release of its latest mobile app: Duo, a video-calling app that is a direct alternative to Apple’s FaceTime. Google has fought back with its Android operating system and a series of mobile apps that are more flexible and compatible with a broader set of devices than Apple’s apps. Apple has proferred its superior devices, like the iPhone. Google and Apple have battled each other for years for primacy over mobile users.
