Google merges Meet and Duo into one voice and video calling app

Google announced, which combines its two video calling apps, Duo and Meet, into a single platform called Google Meet. This merger should help solve some of the problems of modern communication between people, the company noted.

The merger will take place on the Duo side - the service will receive a major update that will add many Meet features. The service will be renamed later. The current Meet app will be called "Meet Original" and will eventually be retired as deprecated.

All existing Duo features will be retained, including the ability to make video calls to friends and family using a phone number or email address. The update will add the following features:

• virtual backgrounds for calls;
• the possibility of scheduling meetings in the "Calendar";
• text chat during calls;
• subtitles in real time;
• increasing the limit on the number of participants from 32 to 100;
• integration with Gmail, Google Assistant, Messages and more.

The process of merging services will begin in the coming weeks and be completed before the end of the year.