Google Duplex available on some Android phones other than Pixel

Cal Jeffrey

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In brief: You may already have Google's Duplex service integrated into your voice assistant and not even know it. At least one person has reported that he has used Duplex on his Samsung phone despite it only being officially released to Pixel phones.

Google is reportedly expanding Duplex support to beyond Pixel phones. According to Max Weinbach, with XDA-Developers, he was recently able to use Duplex on his Samsung Galaxy S10+.

While using Google Assistant to book a restaurant reservation using its OpenTable integration, he discovered that the location did not use OpenTable. Duplex appeared to take over at that point asking him for the details such as date, time, and the number of people. It then told him it would make the call and send him a confirmation within 15 minutes. Six minutes later his reservation was confirmed. Weinbach said he really liked the convenience Duplex offered.

"Google Duplex really does make life easy for those who don’t have the time call to make a reservation or appointment yourself. It takes under a minute and Google handles the rest for you."

As you may recall, Duplex is the human-sounding AI that Google demoed at I/O 2018, which many people thought was too real to be real. The service can be used to make reservations or appointments over the phone interacting with businesses in a voice that is hard to distinguish from a human, which created its own controversy.

Duplex initially launched last year in December on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, but only in only a small region of the US. The Verge noted early last month, Google expanded service to older Pixel phones as well as 43 states. It is easier to list those places where Duplex is restricted; they include Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, and Texas. Availability is limited due to call recording laws in some regions.

At the time, Google said it would be expanding the service to other Android 5.0 and above devices and to iPhones that have Google Assistant installed. That rollout seems to have started despite no official word from Google. Let us know if it is working for you.

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