Google’s drive to have one service (for video) sees it return to the Hangouts-era desire for a consolidated app. Once that is complete, the company will rename the Google Duo app to Google Meet “later this year.” This will result in a “single video communications service across Google that is available to everyone at no-cost.” Why is this happening: Covering every call During this entire period, the ability to make calls with your preferred app, regardless of what the other person is using, will remain. This first phase – of sorts – will take place “in the coming weeks” and be closely monitored by Google so users aren’t left behind or see quality degrade. However, free users will have a 60-minute cap for group calls on the web. Users of the new Duo/Meet will mostly not encounter them if they primarily use the mobile app. Meet today has restrictions on the length of group video calls if you’re not a Workspace customer. Meanwhile, when tapping the “New” call FAB (floating action button) in the bottom-right corner you now have Meet’s options to “Start new meeting” and “Schedule in Google Calendar.” Elsewhere, Duo’s web experience will see similar updates as the original branding goes away. However, you might see a new scheduled “Meetings” section appear first in that list. The addition of all these features comes with an “upgraded homescreen” that’s basically Duo’s existing history view, which is a popular way people start calls. (Enterprise and education administrators will receive further instructions.) Meet will remain as a tab in mobile and web Gmail as it does today. The other important thing Google notes is that you won’t have to download a new app as “all conversation history, contacts, and messages will continue to be saved.” Google very much wants to convert the existing user base, especially since Duo has seen over 5 billion downloads (on Android) compared to 100+ million for the standalone Google Meet client, which is going away after this migration. Meanwhile, you’ll be able to ask Google Assistant to call using existing devices. Google is quick to point out that “existing video calling features from Duo are here to stay.” You will still be able to “make video calls to friends and family by phone number or email address.” That latter capability of making 1:1 calls without needing to first drop a link is already possible today in Google Chat, but video calling somebody’s number is very much a Duo feature that remains important given the service’s integration with various phone dialer apps, like on the Pixel. Integrate with other tools, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Assistant, Messages, and more.Increase size of video calls from a current limit of 32 to 100 participants.Get real-time closed captions to better support accessibility and boost participation.Live share content to enable interaction with all participants on the call.Use in-meeting chat for deeper engagement.Schedule meetings so everyone can join at a time that’s convenient for them.Customize virtual backgrounds in calls and meetings.Google is first updating the Duo app on Android and iOS with “all the Google Meet features.” This includes the ability to: Today, the company is officially answering that question itself: Google Meet is its “one connected solution.” And this move might just work to make this unified Meet more than the sum of its parts. Given its prominence, Meet became a stronger contender to the service a regular Google Account holder would think to use. The email app started surfacing Meet for all users in 2020, not just enterprise customers. Next to Search (and YouTube), Gmail is likely Google’s most important consumer-facing offering. However, the biggest change was how closely integrated Meet became with Gmail. The answer to that question started to shift again two years ago as work from home (WFH) saw Google continuously upgrade Meet, which dates back to 2017, and add new features that leverage the company’s AI prowess. In 2016, this answer changed to Google Duo, a very focused and lightweight app that people, by all accounts, liked. If you asked a user of free Google services in the early to mid-2010s how to call somebody about video, they’d say Hangouts. This development was finally made official today – and will see the app that the vast majority of Android users have installed on their devices get renamed to Google Meet later this year. In August or 2020, 9to5Google reported that Google was planning to replace Duo with Meet.
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