Google Duo Update: New UI, Contact List Changes Teased

A new version of the Google Duo video-calling app is arriving soon. Google is currently testing some new cosmetic changes for its app, making it very obvious that the update is just around the corner.

Android Police has learned that the Mountain View giant is in the process of testing new interface changes to the contact list in Google Duo. The news outlet noted that though the upcoming changes are mostly cosmetic, they serve the purpose of making the user interface of the app more streamlined and fluid.

A very conspicuous modification that Google is implementing with the update is the change from the standard switch control of the Video/Voice toggle to an underline-styled toggle. Therefore, users will soon be pressing the separate and underlined icons for Video and Voice instead of simply swiping the switch toggle to choose between the two main features.

Users will still see their recently called contacts underneath the new underlined-styled toggle for the Video/Voice options. However, the list has actually been expanded to include the rest of the user’s contacts. It’s worth noting that some users who are part of the ongoing testing process are still seeing the Contacts button at the left side of the recently called contacts. Others are saying that the Contacts button has disappeared from the UI on their end.

It’s possible that Google might be getting rid of the Contacts button though. The updated contact list in the main screen already includes all of the user’s contacts. Thus, there’s no need to press the Contacts button to view the full contact list. The need to do so is only present in the current UI because the contacts that appear in the main screen are only those that are suggested by the app and the people the user has recently contacted.

The search box that’s typically located atop the contact list is now found below the recently called contacts, and it has been re-styled to be more prominent than before. As a result, the new search box is hard to miss compared to the current version, which is so easy to overlook.

Google Duo is Google’s video chat mobile app that was announced at the company’s developer conference on May 18, 2016 and released worldwide on Aug. 16 that same year. It’s a one-to-one video calling app available for both iOS and Android phones that has a simple and very straightforward interface.