Last month, Google announced that its two video calling products Duo and Meet would merge together in one video chat platform called ‘Google Meet’.
A small number of users are starting to see this merger taking place with the latest version of the Google Duo app on Android. 9to5Google has some screenshots showing the beginning of the transition with the latest version 169.0.459621665.
Your Duo app becomes Meet, with a new name and icon, and more features like background effects
The updated app shows that “Duo gets even better” and the main action button has been changed from “New Call” to “New”. You can also “Schedule in Google Calendar” to set calls for later. A new pop-up message shows updated privacy terms, namely the move from using end-to-end encryption to cloud encryption, which Google says will enable more features such as chat and live captioning. They also note that blocked users from Duo will not be transferred to Meet.
Source: 9to5Google
If a user schedules a new Meet through the desktop website, the meeting will appear under a new “Meetings” section of the app that also lists other upcoming events from the calendar.
Google Duo was Google’s simple video calling app for smartphones or desktop that would rival FaceTime when it launched together with Allo in 2016 and Meet would just start a few months later in 2017† Google Meet is Google’s video conferencing platform integrated with Google Calendar and Gmail, rising in popularity amid the spike in demand for conferencing apps during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
google’s Support page describes the transition from Google Duo to Meet, which will include all the features that Meet users will benefit from, such as video calling for 100 people and improved video calling with live captions and virtual backgrounds. Meanwhile, Meet retains Duo’s features, including fun filters and effects, the ability to send video messages, and the ability to use the Google Assistant to call devices home.