[Update: 4 new states] Google Duplex expands to 43 US States, more Android devices

Ben Schoon | May 17 2019 - 6:57 am PT

One of the most impressive tech demos Google has ever shown off was the reveal of Google Duplex back at I/O last year. While we figured the tech was years from rolling out to consumers, the company has just announced that Google Duplex is now rolling out in the majority of the United States for Pixel owners.

Late last year, Google started testing out Duplex on Pixel phones in a few major US cities. At the time, that included areas such as New York City and San Francisco, but today the availability of Google Duplex is increasing dramatically. Starting today, Duplex is rolling out to 43 States across the US for all Google Pixel owners. To see if your state is supported, a full list is available on Google’s Help Center.

Update 4/8: As of April 8th, Google has officially added Texas to the list of supported States for Duplex. This trims down the number of States lacking the functionality, and it comes shortly after Duplex started rolling out to more users on non-Pixel devices too.

Update 5/17: As of this week, Google has added a few more states to the growing list. As Android Police first spotted on the 16th, Google added Indiana, Minnesota, Montana, and Nebraska recently. That brings the total up to 48 states, just two short of nationwide coverage. Who’s left? Just Kentucky, and Lousiana (the latter of which to the chagrin of a certain 9to5Google team member.)

Just like in previous demos, Pixel 1, 2, and 3 owners in supported States will be able to use Assistant to book restaurant reservations. Saying something along the lines of “Book a table for four people at [restaurant name] tomorrow night” triggers the Assistant to make the call using Duplex and notify you of the successful reservation.

Google explains that Duplex will be used to make the call and in the video demo below, you can see just how realistic its voice still sounds. After the reservation is made, Assistant sends a notification, sets a calendar appointment, and also sends over an email confirmation. As a side note, not all places will work, as Google does allow businesses to opt-out of receiving these calls.

Most interestingly in today’s announcement, though, is the reveal that this won’t be Pixel-exclusive for too much longer. Google says that Duplex will be rolling out to more Android devices, and even iOS, in the “coming weeks.” Google’s documentation suggests that any Android phone with Google Assistant will eventually be able to use the feature, as well as iOS devices using the Assistant app.