Google's Duo Is the Video Calling App to Solve All Your Woes

Anyone who's ever lived away from their family or friends can tell you what a pain it is to video chat. Sure, tons of apps exist, but some confine you to your computer and WiFi connection and others require a whole new account to use it. That's where Google's new video calling app, Duo, comes in. It's a free, easy-to-use video calling app that does away with any complicated signups or features in order to make video calling easy.

The app, announced at this year's Google I/O conference, is available today on iOS and Android, and is so simple. The only features it has during a call include:

To call someone, all you need to do is let the app access your contacts. You can't create any new contacts within Duo, so that's a key fact to remember. You can also block someone on the app without worry; they won't know they were blocked.

The best part about the app is the Knock Knock feature. Before you pick up a phone call, you'll see a live video of who's calling. The idea here is that "every phone call starts with a smile," said Nick Fox, vice president of communications products at Google. It's a fun feature that unfortunately looks different on both iOS and Android. Within Android, Knock Knock appears on your screen even if your phone is locked. However, on iOS, you need to have the app open to see it. This is because Apple's API restricts what can be shown on the lock screen.

Other neat aspects of Duo include the circular screen that shows how you look to the person you're calling and its ability to keep the call going as you switch networks. You can start a call on WiFi and move over to data and the call will automatically adjust to the correct quality as it keeps going.

Currently, Duo isn't focused on building any new features and wants to keep the app "as simple as possible," said Fox. The focus is on "quality and speed," which is why Google also created Duo, rather than pushing Hangouts as a video calling product.

Duo isn't the only video calling app available, but it's one that's truly simple. The only other app that feels like a competitor is Facebook's Messenger, which, like Duo, can be used with just your phone number. However, Messenger gets a little complicated with groups, stickers, GIFs, and so much more, unlike Duo which simply shows who you call the most in one screen.

"We saw this real gap in the market that we think will be a real nice opportunity for Duo," said Nick Fox.

I was invited to test out the app before it launched and am so happy with it. It's easy to use and fun! The biggest downside is that the video quality did drop when I switched from a WiFi to data network. But let's keep it real: who's actually video chatting in public places where you need data?

Duo is a simple app that requires little effort to use. Other video calling products try to include too many features — something easy for a millennial to understand but harder for someone who's not as tech-savvy to pick up. It's an app that my parents can download and start using without me spending an hour-long phone call first explaining it to them. Besides, I have Snapchat and Hangouts to use if I wanted to add stickers and filters to my video chats.

Ahead, see what the app looks like in use and maybe you'll be convinced to try it.