Google is combining two of its video-calling apps: the Meet and Duo into a single platform. 

The move to combine both video-calling apps may help solve the challenges in today's communication tools. 

According to Javier Soltero, the head of Google Workspace, "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."

Reachability is a primary goal for Soltero, which also led to the integration of Google Meet and Chat into many of Google's other services. 

However, with all of these additions and integrations, Google's services become complicated and cluttered. For example, now, you can start a meeting from anywhere. However, everything feels and seems crammed together. 

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The Integration

The integration is Google's response to the significant increase in app usage when the pandemic hit. This has led Google to take action to deliver better solutions to users. 

"The great thing about bringing Teams together is that we've Brough some of the best of both products to each other, strengthened the foundation and... it's now fairly straightforward because of the work we've done over the last few years to take that final step and actually bring them fully together," according to Dave Citron, the director of product for Google's video products Citron. 

As Duo and Meet join together, Duo will be the default. Soon enough, Dup will also get an update to bring a host of Meet Features into its platform. Also, later this year, the Dup app will be renamed Google Meet, while the current Meet app will be named "Meet Original." 

Citron added, "The Duo mobile app has a lot of sophistication, especially under the hood. Especially in emerging markets, where network connectivity was sparse or highly variable," he said. 

Citron also said that Meet is more developed in the web platform, which sets the base of the new combined system. However, in both cases, they want to deliver 100 percent functionality and ensure that no users will be left behind. 

Google also cleared that users don't need to download an additional app. However, there are still a few kinks that the tech giant needs to fix, such as how users will transition to the new app. This will take a lot of balancing for the company to get it right. 

Is Duo Getting Removed?

The Google Duo app that was introduced in 2016 will not be removed completely from Google's suite of services, especially that it can do a lot of functionalities that you can't do with Google Meet, like the ability to call someone directly instead of waiting or sending links. 

To put it simply, Duo works like Apple's FaceTime, which is why it's convenient to a lot of users. 

Related Article: Google Meet Discourages Single Person Meetings: Five-Minute Limitation

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Written by April Fowell