‘Allo’ beckons to Google Duo from the graveyard as Google Meet gets ready to take its place

In this latest example of Google's complicated rebranding fetish, the Duo app is set to be incorporated into the Google Meet app, with notifications of “Duo is getting even better” being sent out. This rebranding means that Duo will get all of Google Meet's features before the two apps become one app which will be known as Google Meet.

The Duo app will still do everything that is could before, but it will also gain the following Google Meet features:

• Use in-meeting chat
• Add live closed captions in a video call.
• Apply virtual backgrounds and visual effects.
• Enjoy enhanced video and audio experiences with noise cancellation.
• Schedule a meeting or set up instant meetings so people can join when they’re ready.
• Engage with larger groups of up to 100 people on video.

At some point before the end of 2022, Duo will become Google Meet which will offer all of the combined features. Once the rollout of updates to the Duo app are complete, Google Meet users will be guided to use the new, improved version.

Got Questions?

Google has posted the following info to ease your worries about the upcoming change:

• This change won’t cause usage disruptions to the Google Duo app.
• If you use Google Duo or Meet at no cost today, you don’t need to pay for the new experience.
• Existing video calling features from Google Duo are here to stay.
• Google Duo conversation history, contacts, and messages will remain saved.
• Meet in Gmail will continue to work with no changes.
• While these updates roll out to the Google Duo app, the original Meet app will continue to work.
• If you use Google Duo with a business account, Meet features won’t be available in the Duo app if your domain has Meet disabled.
• For Google Duo users who turn off auto-updates for their app, a future Android OS version will auto-update the app to the rebranded version.

It's no secret that Google's messaging app strategy is somewhat convoluted, and every year we expect the search giant to announce new apps with similar features under new or recycled names as it kills off those apps that never had chance to mature or were simply abandoned for years (hey Hangouts).