Google says that Duo will soon support video chats with as many as 32 participants
The Zoom app has become the video chat app of choice for many since the COVID-19 outbreak has kept most of us at home. With its free tier of service, Zoom allows up to 100 participants to take part in a video chat at the same time. Now imagine 100 boxes in a grid on your phone. That wouldn’t work so Zoom allows you to select from the Active Speaker View or Gallery View. The former shows the person speaking at the moment taking up all of your screen (this is the default setting). You can swipe left for the Gallery View; this shows thumbnails for four participants at one time. Keep swiping left to see the next four participants.
The free version of Zoom allows video conferences to run for 40 minutes before participants are kicked out of the “room.” Of course, nothing prevents the host from starting another call. Zoom says that it has the best iPhone, iPad and Android video meeting quality and screen sharing quality.
While Google did say that it is matching FaceTime and will allow 32 participants to engage in a video chat simultaneously, there is no indication exactly when Google plans on launching this feature.