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Google might start bribing you to get your friends to use Google Duo
June 21, 2025
Did you know thatGooglehas a video chat app calledGoogle Duo? It’s like Facetime,Skype, or WhatsApp, but with a significantly smaller user base.
It looks like Google is going to try to change that with a new rewards program that will incentivize users to get their friends to use Duo in place of whichever video chat app they currently use.
While the details of the program aren’t yet known, a teardown of the most recent Duo APK (viaAndroid Police)clearly reveals code strings that point to some sort of rewards program. How it will work and what those rewards will be is anyone’s guess at the moment, but the code makes it clear that a system is in place:
In the code strings, there are three alerts that will likely pop-up for users:
Those blanks could be anything from cash rewards to credit on theGoogle Play Storeto gift card points.
Keep in mind that code gets added to APKs and then taken away all the time, so this alleged rewards program could amount to nothing. However, it makes perfect sense for Google to institute something along these lines as Duo’s competition is Facetime, Skype,WhatsApp, andFacebook Messenger, all of which are behemoths in the messaging sphere. If Google is going to compete with Duo, it’s going to have to do some serious pushing.
In related news, the APK teardown of Duo also revealed a new “Pause” button. This is likely going to be a way for you to temporarily turn-off your own video feed during a call, similar to the current mute button for audio. It’s not clear if the pause button will turn off both video and sound, or if you’ll have to hit both the pause and mute button to achieve that.
If you don’t already have Duo pre-installed on your phone, you can download the latest version here:
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