Google has announced to combine two of its video-calling apps- Duo and Meet, into a single platform. The merger will enable to make the video and audio calls to have a single platform.
Google is hoping to solve the communication tool management.
Javier Soltero, the head of Google Workspace said, “What’s been really important is understanding how people make the choice as to what tool they’re going to use, for what purpose, in what circumstance.”
He further added, “Our digital lives are filled with a million different chat apps, each with its own rules and norms and contact list, some for work purposes and some for personal ones. Google’s hoping it can use Gmail addresses and phone numbers to bring all that together. “It’s really important and powerful to be able to reach you that way,” Soltero says, “and allow you then to decide whether you want to be reached or not, as opposed to having to manage all of these different identities and deal with the consequences.”
Javier has been working on the idea of “reachability” for Google, and this indeed led him to integrate Meet and Chat along with many other services.
In the last couple of years, Meet has become a more powerful platform for official meetings and group calls and chats for organisations. On the other hand, Duo had been more of a messaging app.
Google has further claimed to add all the features of Duo to Meet, which will certainly offer the best of both worlds.
Google launched Duo in 2016 to make one-to-one video calls easier, and it does a number of things which Google Meet doesn't use to. Duo gave users the liberty to call anyone directly if their numbers are saved — rather than depending on the links to be sent like Meet or Zoom or adding the calendar invited aswell. Moreover, we can say that Duo has been similar to the FaceTime feature of Apple devices.
New Google Meet: How to make a call?
Google has made Duo’s mobile app a default app for the new Google Meet. Through its operation on the existing interface, the app will update soon to bring Meet features on the platform by the latter half of the year. It is further reported that the Duo app will be renamed to ‘Google Meet’ whereas, the existing Meet app will be called “Meet Original.”
Though it might be a little jumbled to feel Google claims that this is the best way to engage with the users.
Dave Citron, the director of products for Google’s video products said, “The Duo mobile app had a lot of sophistication, especially under the hood. Especially in emerging markets, where network connectivity was sparse or highly variable. On the web, it’s different; Meet is the much more developed web platform, so that forms the base of the new combined system. "
