Sometimes, in one way or another, Google's products can have identity issues.
For example, the company can have multiple products that do pretty much the same thing. And the worst thing it can do, is having too many messaging apps. But this is changing, because Google wants to finally simplify its communication services, saying that it is merging Google Meet and Google Duo.
Google wants its two disparate video calling apps to become one single platform.
For starters, the company has started adding Meet features to Duo, as stated by Google in a blog post:
And everything goes well and the merging completes, Google wants to rename the mobile versions of both apps, with Duo becoming Meet and the current Meet becoming Meet Original.
Once that happens, users should be able to use the app, which up to this point was primarily designed for personal video calling, to also schedule meetings. Other features that should make their way to Duo include support for virtual backgrounds, live-sharing content and in-meeting text chat.
At the same time, Google promises users that they will experience features Duo users have long known, including the ability to add filters and effects.
Additionally, users call history, contacts and messages won’t disappear from the app.
According to Google, this move is part of its pledge to "carefully" integrate the two platforms and ensure it supports as many users as possible.
As explained by a spokesperson for the company:
But again, Google wants to simplify its communication offering, so it has no reason for retaining and maintaining two different apps.
For this reason, Google said that it has plans to deprecate the original Meet eventually.
Google has invested more on Google Duo, that it has been baked into so many Google services that it could become a WhatsApp and FaceTime competitor.
But that can only happen if Google product's identity issue is solved, and Google can integrate Meet and Duo without making things complicated.