Slashdot Mirror
Google Duo Video Chat App Arrives On iOS and Android With End-to-end Encryption (betanews.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Video chat should be simple, but it is not. The biggest issue is fragmentation. On iOS, for instance, Facetime is a wonderfully easy solution, but there is no Android client. While there are plenty of cross-platform third-party options to solve this, they aren't always elegant. Skype is a good example of an app that should bridge the gap, but ends up being buggy and clunky. Google is aiming to solve this dilemma with its 'Duo' video chat app. With it, the search giant is putting a heavy focus on ease of use. The offering is available for both Android and iOS -- the only two mobile platforms that matter (sorry, Windows 10 Mobile). Announced three months ago, it finally sees release today. There is no news about the Allo chat sister-app, sadly.
Don't believe it and don't trust it. The "APP APPY APPS" guy has one point, they never have you in mind, period. Your phone isn't your property. Your carrier owns it, its manufacturer owns it, your government owns it, you just pay exorbitant rent. Anything you do on your phone can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion, at the very least.
Google has no interest in providing you a secure communication channel.
On a desktop computer that runs Linux or Windows7 at the latest, install Pidgin, install OTR plugin. Now you can communicate securely with others who have also installed Pidgin and OTR plugin. This is free, it uses rotating AES symmetric keys. No one stands to make any money or get any sweet government buddy points by selling you out, because there's nothing to sell out. It's all free, as in free, as in beer, as in speech, as in whatever.
Google can't be trusted.
There isn't yet a decent cross-platform solution.
Not that I'm a Microsoft famboi or anything, but what's wrong with Skype? It seems to support more platforms than this Duo thing does. And it works well enough for me and everyone I use it with, on a multitude of platforms.
Except it is peer-to-peer, it uses Google servers to initially set up the call, but the actual call traffic is direct. Don't take your facts from a random AC without a bit of checking.
Oh no... it's the future.