Google Duo's latest update marks the beginning of the end
Long have we joked about Google's duplicated apps and services — especially when it comes to apps like Hangouts and Messages. On the heels of (mostly) cleaning up that situation, the company has turned its attention toward an adjacent problem: video chat services. Google plans to fold Duo into Meet later this year, and with the app's latest update, we're seeing our first evidence of the groundwork being laid.
The folks at 9to5Google spotted a new card in the latest version of Duo, announcing an even better version of the app is on the way. Although this pop-up isn't appearing for everyone — I'm not seeing it on my Pixel 6, even on the latest update — it does show some signs of an impending transition from Duo to Meet for all users. The banner alerts Duo fanatics of the upcoming changes, promising the app will automatically switch from Duo to Meet and include features like background effects.
There are a couple of other changes here, too, including a redesigned floating action button that simply reads "New" rather than "New call." While the old button opened a list of contacts to dial, this new offering allows you to start or schedule a future meeting, with the latter option using Calendar integration. It should come as no surprise, given the adoption of the word "meeting" here, that starting a new one provides users with a Meet link to share, just as it would if you were using the proper app.
Although this update will likely be slow to roll out to everyone — Google already takes a long time with server-side patches, and the transition from Duo to Meet will take some serious care not to screw up — it's good to see this process is already underway. We aren't expecting this merger to be complete until later in the year, but it's good to see the company is already preparing months ahead of schedule.
( Details and picture courtesy from Source, the content is auto-generated from RSS feed.)
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