On August 24, 2005, the company’s first instant messaging app, Google Talk, was launched. Almost 17 years have passed, and during this time, Google has not been able to clarify itself with its messaging and video conferencing applications strategy. The latest announcement on the matter – the merging of Duo and Meet – is another attempt by the search giant to undo a huge mess.

Meet and Duo get together. Google has announced that it will combine the features of the two applications it has offered so far. Very soon, Duo will “disappear” to be integrated into Google Meet, the long-running reference application that, for example, started to be integrated into Gmail in June 2020.

(Seems like a good idea. Duo may not be extraordinarily popular, but this “Facetime on Google” has long allowed this convenient option of calling someone directly for much more targeted person-to-person communication. For group video conferencing, there is Meet, which is -for now- “Zoom à la Google”.

What will happen to these apps?. Well, something a little weird. First, we will receive a Duo update that will allow us to enjoy a range of Meet options on that platform. Next, the app called Duo will be renamed and become Meet, the existing Google Meet app will be called ‘Meet Original’ and will eventually disappear and no longer be updated.

The strategy is confusing, but for those responsible for Google, it’s the best way to make this transition because the “Duo mobile app is particularly complex internally.” These advantages are noticeable, for example, in developing countries with more erratic connections, but ultimately the idea is to combine the strengths of Duo and Meet, resulting in a single mobile and web app that offers the best of both worlds.

Google to see if you’ve clarified once. Google’s proposal seems to be a success, especially considering we recently had three different apps that needed to be combined from the very beginning: Hangouts, Meet, and Duo. Hangouts has been replaced by Google Chat (buf), but Google continues to have a controversial strategy with the messaging part.

Say “iMessages/WhatsApp à la Google” to the flop (we’re back) that Google Allo launched at the same time as the Duo. It died quickly, but now Google offers a future where the RCS standard may finally be the definitive option. The debauchery of the messaging and video conferencing apps Google has given us is epic, and if you want to read a very lengthy review of everything the company has tried in the industry, they remind us of that chaos at Ars Technica.