Google Duo could soon be integrated into Samsung’s messaging app

With the Galaxy S10, Samsung brought Instagram integration to its Gallery app, enabling users to quickly upload their photos and videos to their Instagram account. With the Galaxy S20, Samsung could be working on integration with another popular service: According to The Korea Herald, the Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy Z Flip could feature Google Duo integration in the stock messaging app.

Samsung is reportedly in talks with South Korean carrier SK Telecom and Google “on starting a video messaging service on Samsung’s Android-powered phones.” Google Duo will apparently be integrated into the regular messaging app and use Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging that allows users to share photos, videos, music, and more over the standard SMS app instead of having to install third-party clients like WhatsApp.

However, it’s unclear what benefit the Google Duo integration will bring. South Korean carriers reportedly want users to be able to use video calling without paying extra data charges. But RCS messaging can only send media files of up to 5 MB in size without consuming any data, so Google Duo integration wouldn’t allow for very long video calls if saving on data charges is the primary goal. We guess we will have to wait until the launch of the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip to get the finer details on what advantages Samsung’s so-called video messaging service based on Google Duo will offer.