Have you been using both Google Meet and Duo lately? Well, Google made a major announcement, stating that it will combine two of its video-calling applications into a single video streaming platform dubbed Meet. Meet and Duo is the two video platforms that will be united. The former is a streaming video platform that allows up to 250 individuals to participate in a single video conversation. The Duo is a free iOS and Android video chat application.
In addition to merging Duo and Meet, Google will eventually delete Duo, leaving it with a single video platform, Meet. Meet has been used for meetings and group chats, as stated by Javier Soltero, the head of Google Workspace, who stated, “It’s been incredibly important to understand how people choose which tool to use, for what purpose, and under what circumstances.” Meet has been utilized for meetings and group chats.
Duo, on the other hand, has many similarities with FaceTime, as it was designed for one-on-one video chats as opposed to the massive conferences that Meet and Zoom are used for. By merging Meet and Duo, it is possible to initiate a meeting from virtually any location. An advantage of Duo is the ability to initiate a video chat by calling a person’s phone number rather than requiring them to click a link or hit a large “Meet” button.
When Google merges Duo and Meet, the Duo application will be the default, while Google Duo will be rebranded later this year to Google Meet. The current Meet application will be renamed Meet Original. Duo will ultimately receive an update that will bring Meet functionality to the Duo platform.
Duo will receive these new features after the update:
- Customize virtual backgrounds in calls and meetings.
- Schedule meetings so everyone can join at a time that’s convenient for them.
- Use in-meeting chat for deeper engagement.
- Live share content to enable interaction with all participants on the call.
- Get real-time closed captions to better support accessibility and boost participation.
- Increase the size of video calls from a current limit of 32 to 100 participants.
- Integrate with other tools, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Assistant, Messages and more.
“The Duo mobile app had a lot of sophistication, especially beneath the hood and in emerging regions,” said Google’s head of video products. According to Citron, the situation is different on the web, where Meet is the much more developed online platform “forming the foundation of the new unified system.” In both instances, though, the Googler explains that the objective is to merge Meet and Duo into a service that is accessible to all users.
The meet is the obvious platform for Google to prioritize its video and voice capabilities.
Workspace’s Soltero claims that as Meet has developed during the pandemic, it has become a more natural platform for Google to prioritize its video and voice capabilities. Google has a lot of work to do before it can distinguish which device you’re using at a given time and send notifications to that device exclusively.
Google announced that it will continue to invest in Google Meet to enable people to connect, collaborate, and share experiences on any device at home, school, and the office. It will enable the smoothest possible transition from Duo to Meet, Google remarked. In 2020, Google began delivering Meet for free to users and released over a hundred new features and enhancements for the application.
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