Google Duo is supposed to be gone. We said as much two weeks ago when Google updated the app with a name change to “Meet.” This marked the conclusion of the unfortunate retirement of our favorite video chatting app and its re-brand as Google’s other, more professional meeting app. And then yesterday something weird happened.
Folks (including us) started noticing an update on Google Play for…Google Duo. That’s right, an app that is no longer supposed to exist and was renamed to “Google Meet” a couple of weeks ago, was getting an update.
The update introduced the old Google Duo icon back into the app drawer and it can be placed on your home screen like the days of old. Touching it opens Google Meet, because of course it does.
To make things all the more confusing, we also still have a Google Meet shortcut (and that “Meet (original)” shortcut). The Google Duo update apparently just adds a shortcut called “Duo” that launches Google Meet. Google told 9to5Google that they brought the app icon back because people want to search for “Duo” on their phones to find Duo. I’d imagine that means the switch to Google Meet wasn’t clear enough or made obvious enough to people and they were wondering what happened to their beloved Duo. We feel you, homies.
So to recap, Google Duo isn’t back, but the icon is for now. When you open it, it’s just opening Google Meet because it’s really just a shortcut called “Duo” that opens Meet. Make sense?
When I click on the new ( old ) Duo shortcut, it pops open and says “Google Workspace”….. Why don’t they just have it say “Google Meet” instead? Most people don’t have a Workspace account, right ?
Oh, Google.
???? okay. Lots of basics out there huh…
I miss Hangouts
When I think of Hangouts I think about several years ago when Google tried to make Hangouts the default texting app in Android. They just tried to merge SMS with Hangouts functionality and it was horrible.
Really? I had the opposite experience with the SMS and Hangout merge. It was awesome and was bummed when they separated them again.
Same. I loved having it all in one spot and it worked great. I never understood why they just didn’t continue to expand that.
Now you just get this weird subset of gmail…
Should have left duo alone in the first place
Why is google so obsessed with name and identity of their products rather than achieving their objective end goal? Duo was literally their most successful app as an alternative to facetime and it was simple. This is why people don’t jump to android because of its inability to stay consistent with simplicity. Only enthusiast here knows how to navigate but this is a tiny audience.
Google should have just given the option to change the icon/name in the app drawer/home screen
This merger was a bit rushed while Hangouts has been winding down for like 5 years.
At least, give us the option to hide de Duo icon and just keep de Meet icon.
Just ignore it. If regular users accidentally hide it (and they 100% would), they’d lose their minds trying to find it again.
This is one giant cluster …
There should just be messages and duo. All my family knows Duo and very few know Meet so it was confusing to them that the app “vanished.” Google is pushing their enterprise thinking or some new VP wants their project to be highlighted. Incorporate all chat/voice features into messages. Go back to Duo and move all of the Meet features into that. Now you have 2 cohesive platforms for Text/Chat and Video, like apple does with iMessage and FaceTime. Stick to it. Where’s my bonus, Google?
Even Duo is kind of a stupid name that doesn’t tell new users what the app is for. They didn’t give Messages a quirky name, so they shouldn’t have with Duo either. Maybe just name it what it does… Video Chat.
At least it’s better than Google Meat? I mean, Meet…
Stupid people, Lmao.
But Google should have thought about this that they’re are stupid/dumb people.
People are stupid. Google literally put a banner in Duo that it’s switching to Meet. They even left Duo on the phone but when you opened it it then switched to Meet and uninstalled the Duo icon that first time. Basically held your hand to cross the street.
But what if you didn’t use duo for months? You would of never saw that banner.
Google Duo should have never been merged into Google Meet. Google Duo had the larger install base than Google Meet. Why combine a consumer app and an enterprise app into one? Makes no sense. But it’s Google being Google. I hope one day everything Google does becomes one big “ah ha” moment and we all live in harmony. That day will probably not come.
Microsoft did the same thing with Skype years ago. It was super successful. Because of it, Skype went from the #1 video chat app in the world to…. oh, wait… never mind.
The best part is, I can’t hide duo or uninstall since it says it’s part of the meet app. So, now I just have multiple apps that do the same thing. Cool.
The web version still 100% duo naming, that never changed. Wondering when they are integrating that end.
I’m hoping that everyone deletes the Meet app, thinking that Duo is back. Maybe Google will reconsider (they won’t but it’s nice to dream). This desperate action just demonstrates that Google has no clue any more what people want. Yes, Meet might be better known in a workspace environment (though I doubt even that, Zoom and MS Teams are much bigger names) but the vast majority of people want a simple app for video calling and Duo was that, never Meet.
I’ll tell you right now Google Meet has zero usage in the workplace. Zoom and Teams actually play somewhat nice with each other and you can actually join/see your Zoom meetings inside Teams and appear on your outlook calendars while a Google meet link will not register on outlook and Google has made it extremely difficult to manage Teams meetings from Google Calendar.
Plus Googles reluctance to develop an actual desktop client and push more web app garbage makes it harder use.