You can set up Google Duo without a phone number (but only on a tablet)
by Jared Peters
Last week Google Duo picked up a new feature that would allow people to find you on the service with just their email address. This removed the need to hunt down someone by their phone number, which was pretty useful, but it left some of us wondering why Google didn’t go all the way with it.
You don’t have to search by phone number anymore, but you do need a phone number to set up the service. Well, that’s true for phones, at least.
Set up Google Duo on tablets
Yes, you’ll still need that number on a phone, but there’s a bypass if you have a tablet. With the latest version of Google Duo you’ll be able to set the service up with just an email address, but only on tablets. The bypass seems to be pretty solid, and Google Duo works just fine without the number attached and doesn’t throw up any errors later on without it.
It’ll still need all your other regular permissions so it can reach out to people and make calls, but this is a pretty interesting workaround if you’re simply trying to set up Duo for a tablet or don’t want to attach a phone number to your Google account. We imagine those use cases are pretty few and far between, but we know it works; why not go all the way and give everyone the option on all their devices, Google?
source: Android Police