After a long time without major changes, there have been some new developments around Google Messenger in recent weeks. The latest steps are intended to help unify Messenger and bring more clarity to the ever-spinning carousel of Google apps. Time for a brief inventory of the current and future available Google Messenger.
The history of Google Messenger began with Google Talk and has consisted of numerous restarts, settings, and renaming since the end of what was perhaps the best Google Messenger (from the point of view of the time).
With Google Hangouts, they have been in the process of burying the longest-lived messenger for three years, but have still not fully implemented it. But there are also changes to the current Messenger generations because Google Duo will soon be discontinued and replaced by Google Meet. In this article, “messenger” and “video conferencing solutions” are simply equated to simplicity. Let’s take a look at the portfolio of communication solutions interested Google users can currently choose from:
Google Messages (text messages)
Google Messages evolved from the SMS app and was already called “Android Messages”, “Messages by Google” and “Google Messages”. Currently, the official spelling is just “Messages”. Messages can still be used as an SMS app today, but combines this with RCS, which Google finally wants to break through after many years and create a strong alternative to WhatsApp.
You can send text messages, attach pictures and files, and make phone calls. Despite all efforts, the success is manageable, which is currently being blamed on Apple, among others. Messages isn’t particularly exciting, but it does its job well and is very slow to add new features. If I were to bet which messenger will be discontinued last, I would actually bet on Messages.
Google Duo (video telephony)
Google Duo was launched in 2016 in conjunction with Google Allo and was intended to help establish the separation of chat communication and video telephony. Allo is long gone, but Duo has survived for a very long time and has found a loyal following that has made the platform very popular. It offers a very easy way to start video calls based on a phone number or Google account. The range of functions is manageable, but that is exactly what makes it popular with the loyal fan community.
However, the further development of Duo has long been dormant and a few weeks ago it was announced what many had long expected: Google Duo will be replaced by Google Meet . The term “setting” is intentionally not used, because it is actually supposed to be a smooth transition and transform the Duo app into the Meet app. One of the reasons for this is that Google Duo is preinstalled on more than a billion Android smartphones.
Google Chat (text messages)
Google Chat was initially aimed at business users within Workspace or G Suite. It emerged from Hangouts and was offered as “Hangouts Chat” until early 2020. The platform has now been opened up to all private users and is actually supposed to replace Google Hangouts. is a simple messenger that offers, among other things, the rooms as an additional function, but apart from smaller things it has nothing special to offer.
Because chat is an integral part of Workspace, which is geared toward businesses, its prospects are pretty good. Companies in particular should appreciate not having to constantly switch messengers – like private users have to do with Google.
Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is the Methuselah of Google Messengers. The product was launched back in 2013 and is still available today. In recent years, Hangouts has only been maintained but not further developed because it is being replaced by chat. Previously, it should be replaced with Allo. This transition should have been completed a long time ago, but there have been repeated delays and deadlines have not been met.
It should be over by the end of 2021 at the latest, but Hangouts can still be used today and there is still no indication of the setting in the Hangouts interface. The two “new” messengers Google Chat and Google Meet emerged from Hangouts. Hangouts was / is still an all-rounder that didn’t have any other app and offered all forms of communication.
Google Meet
Google Meet is the workspace cloud video conferencing solution that has unsurprisingly seen a steep rise in the first year of the pandemic. Perhaps also due to the corona pandemic, the product was opened to all private users and thus created a direct competitor for Google Duo. Meet offers a different approach as a duo, but once the connection is established, the products can hardly be distinguished from one another in purely functional terms: Two or more people sit in front of the camera and communicate with each other. No wonder it’s being merged. Google Meet also emerged from Hangouts and was offered in the Workspace environment as Google Hangouts Meet until early 2020.
Gmail
GMail is not a messenger, but has always played a role in fast communication. Shortly after the start of the e-mail platform, there was GMail Chat, which is now offered via the externally integrated platforms: Google Meet, Google Chat and Google Hangouts can be integrated and hidden again if desired. Messages and Duo were never integrated, although GMail is also primarily aimed at private users. This is Google’s Messenger logic.
Of course, there are other chat services in the Google universe, but they don’t fit into this list: The Google Docs chat for each individual document, the Stadia chat, the YouTube chat and even Google Maps have now integrated a communication solution. Listing them all here would go beyond the scope and it is to be expected that sooner or later there will be a roof solution in these areas as well.
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