in June, Google has announced that it will bring Meet features into the Duo app – This transformation starts today. Google is not technically getting rid of either app; Duo has been renamed Meet with the features of both apps and Meet’s staying Meet.
Yes, it sounds very confusing, but at the end of the process there will only be two apps: “Meet Original” (the standard Meet app that will eventually be phased out) and the new Meet app that combines Meet and Duo. The built-in app will allow you to make group and one-on-one calls as well as hold meetings.
If you have already installed Duo, you don’t have to do anything. Last month, Google pushed a Duo update that adds features from Meet, and today, Google is rolling out an update to iOS and Android that will change the Duo logo to the Meet icon. By September, anyone who downloads Google Meet will receive the new Meet/Duo combination. Google notes that duo.google.com will redirect to meet.google.com/calling over the next few months.
Now, if you’re a Meet user, you don’t have to do anything now if you just want to keep using it because it’s always been there without any additional privileges from Duo. Google may eventually end support for the native Meet app, so keep that in mind if you want to continue using the app as is. Google says it will inform native Meet users when they “should transition to the new app experience” but does not say when that will happen.
This change adds another layer of complexity to the Google network of messaging apps, but it’s a sign that Google is merging the services it already has instead of just adding a new one. earlier this year, Google announced that it will be closing Hangouts In November for Google Chat. Google is finished too Third-party support for Google Talk (also known as GChat) last month.
