9 ms·

I'm confused- as far as I'm aware, there are three different video calling products at Google - Hangouts, Meet, and now Duo? What are the similarities/differenc

I'm confused- as far as I'm aware, there are three different video calling products at Google - Hangouts, Meet, and now Duo? What are the similarities/differences between them?

dstaley 6y ago
Hangouts doesn't exist anymore. There's just Google Meet (business-focused video conferencing) and Duo (consumer-focused video calling).
- flattone 6y ago
  >hangouts doesn't exist anymore This is very worrying because hangouts is the only thing I use. All of my contacts use hangouts except for a few SMS, and I heard about Slack. And this is a mostly current or ex Google crew...
- ravenstine 6y ago
  Not sure why people keep saying this. Right at this moment, you can go to hangouts.google.com, start a call, and everything still works. That's not to say that it's going to be around much longer, but it still exists.
  - beowulfey 6y ago
    Google originally said consumer hangouts was being phased out back in Jan 2019. Since then they’ve appeared to walk that back and are only phasing it out for GSuite users. I’m definitely not holding my breath though.
  - Mindwipe 6y ago
    And it's still better than the current product suite even with half of it killed.
- BenjiWiebe 6y ago
  Hangouts definitely still exists. I use it regularly. Hangouts.google.com and the Hangouts app. Maybe it will be axed soon, I don't know. But it does exist at this point.
- TaylorAlexander 6y ago
  Incorrect. I have the hangouts app, use hangouts in the browser under gmail, and use hangouts for video calls regularly.
- tracker1 6y ago
  Hangouts still exist, even though the nerfed a lot of the UX a couple years ago. My GV voicemail comes in via hangouts...
buggeryorkshire 6y ago
AFAIK - Hangouts is going to be nuked at some point. Meet is for gSuite, Duo is the product for consumers. TBF both Meet and Duo have been awesome, Hangouts has withered on the vine. It could have been a unified solution but... Google.
- kyrra 6y ago
  Googler, opinions are my own. My understanding is Google has said externally that they plan on killing the classic Hangouts product. So that means Google chat and Google Meet would be available in consumer space for people with @gmail.com addresses. but right now the focus of those two products is on gSuite. I'd also definitely agree with what other people are saying, duo is the FaceTime competitor. It has direct integration into the Google dialer in the Google SMS app. It's also rather brain dead simple to use.
  - criddell 6y ago
    Do you know if there's any kind of whitepaper describing Duo's security model? When I search for information I'm finding a lot of stuff about Cisco's Duo product, but not a lot about Google's. Specifically, where do the private keys reside?
    - bilal4hmed 6y ago
      I havent seen a whitepaper as such, but their help goes over this , they say the private keys are saved on device only https://support.google.com/duo/answer/9280240?hl=en https://support.google.com/duo/answer/9280240?hl=en
  - philsnow 6y ago
    > classic hangouts This is weird to hear, to me hangouts was always the new thing that ousted gchat. > google chat [...] would be available in consumer space I can't imagine they're bringing back the old old thing, are they?
    - 6y ago
timdorr 6y ago
Hangouts == WhatsApp. It's the older chat + video system. It's being split into Meet and Chat. Meet == Zoom. It's video conferences for businesses. Duo == FaceTime. It's video calling, with integrations into the Phone app on Android.
- TaylorAlexander 6y ago
  I guess “meet” being separate makes sense but I have to say that in the Apple ecosystem “Duo” and “Hangouts” have their counterparts in the unified iMessage/FaceTime system.
  - izacus 6y ago
    Hangouts is pretty much a dead product so I see it going away soon anyway.
    - yoz-y 6y ago
      https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2019/01/upcoming-hangouts-service-consolidation.html https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2019/01/upcoming-hangou... There is a timeline, at least for entreprise customers.
      - discreditable 6y ago
        They haven't stuck to that timeline at all. > Classic Hangouts will be retired for all G Suite customers starting in October 2019 Chat within Gmail is still hangouts. Hangouts.google.com still works. Users still use the hangouts apps. On the personal side, if you use Google Fi, SMS integration is still only available via Hangouts. This is a somewhat unique feature of Fi and Google Voice. You can send/receive SMS within Hangouts via browser or app all the same. It's not like the Messages app for web (which relies on your phone being online). They have a newer timeline at https://support.google.com/a/answer/9197126?hl=en&ref_topic=9197125 https://support.google.com/a/answer/9197126?hl=en&ref_topic=...
        6y ago
SlowRobotAhead 6y ago
I’m confused because there are like four products now called Duo. Although to be fair, me confusing Duo Security and Duolingo is because I use both and both have nearly the same green for logos.
- mey 6y ago
  I'm over here eagerly awaiting the Surface Duo
interestica 6y ago
Always thought the name choice was a bit weird. With a name like Duo, are they forever restricted to two-party calls? (Ha) It seems like the other video chat services (eg WhatsApp, Instagram) are incorporating multi user support. The "knock" feature is kinda novel and weird (in a good way). When you call someone, they can see your video feed before they answer the call.
- lrem 6y ago
  Duo does support up to 8 people in a call. Naming is hard.
  - alexhutcheson 6y ago
    12 now: https://twitter.com/sanazahari/status/1243397017868460033 https://twitter.com/sanazahari/status/1243397017868460033
  - Mindwipe 6y ago
    Only on mobile. Duo for web does not.
- dmitrygr 6y ago
  only "a good way" until you(/your grandmother/your kid) get a facefull of unsolicited genitals
  - rurp 6y ago
    Lol, "facefull of unsolicited genitals" is not a phrase I expected to read today. I agree though, this feature seems like a solution in search of a problem. If I'm answering the call it seems more natural to activate both cameras at the same time, and for calls I'm not going to answer the video feed just seems unnecessarily distracting. I'm sure that I have never wished for a feature like this.
- reaperducer 6y ago
  When you call someone, they can see your video feed before they answer the call. Seems like the sort of thing that perverts would take advantage of.
sergiotapia 6y ago
Didn't they have allo? seems like there's zero communication internally at google that they build competing products lol
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- dflock 6y ago
  Allo was chat with... stuff. Was killed a while ago.
  - JshWright 6y ago
    Wait, wasn't that Wave?
    - aioprisan 6y ago
      Who knows anymore? Google has about 5 different chat products and it's not clear when/why to one over the other.
    - jclos 6y ago
      Ah man, I lost a lot of tech cred among my friends when I was raving about Wave and how it was going to replace everything.
- hiccuphippo 6y ago
  It seems like at Google creating new stuff gives you promotions, making someone else's project better does not.

I'm confused- as far as I'm aware, there are three different video calling products at Google - Hangouts, Meet, and now Duo? What are the similarities/differences between them?

dstaley 6y ago

Hangouts doesn't exist anymore. There's just Google Meet (business-focused video conferencing) and Duo (consumer-focused video calling).

flattone 6y ago
>hangouts doesn't exist anymore This is very worrying because hangouts is the only thing I use. All of my contacts use hangouts except for a few SMS, and I heard about Slack. And this is a mostly current or ex Google crew...
ravenstine 6y ago
Not sure why people keep saying this. Right at this moment, you can go to hangouts.google.com, start a call, and everything still works. That's not to say that it's going to be around much longer, but it still exists.
- beowulfey 6y ago
  Google originally said consumer hangouts was being phased out back in Jan 2019. Since then they’ve appeared to walk that back and are only phasing it out for GSuite users. I’m definitely not holding my breath though.
- Mindwipe 6y ago
  And it's still better than the current product suite even with half of it killed.
BenjiWiebe 6y ago
Hangouts definitely still exists. I use it regularly. Hangouts.google.com and the Hangouts app. Maybe it will be axed soon, I don't know. But it does exist at this point.
TaylorAlexander 6y ago
Incorrect. I have the hangouts app, use hangouts in the browser under gmail, and use hangouts for video calls regularly.
tracker1 6y ago
Hangouts still exist, even though the nerfed a lot of the UX a couple years ago. My GV voicemail comes in via hangouts...

buggeryorkshire 6y ago

AFAIK - Hangouts is going to be nuked at some point. Meet is for gSuite, Duo is the product for consumers. TBF both Meet and Duo have been awesome, Hangouts has withered on the vine. It could have been a unified solution but... Google.

kyrra 6y ago
Googler, opinions are my own. My understanding is Google has said externally that they plan on killing the classic Hangouts product. So that means Google chat and Google Meet would be available in consumer space for people with @gmail.com addresses. but right now the focus of those two products is on gSuite. I'd also definitely agree with what other people are saying, duo is the FaceTime competitor. It has direct integration into the Google dialer in the Google SMS app. It's also rather brain dead simple to use.
- criddell 6y ago
  Do you know if there's any kind of whitepaper describing Duo's security model? When I search for information I'm finding a lot of stuff about Cisco's Duo product, but not a lot about Google's. Specifically, where do the private keys reside?
  - bilal4hmed 6y ago
    I havent seen a whitepaper as such, but their help goes over this , they say the private keys are saved on device only https://support.google.com/duo/answer/9280240?hl=en https://support.google.com/duo/answer/9280240?hl=en
- philsnow 6y ago
  > classic hangouts This is weird to hear, to me hangouts was always the new thing that ousted gchat. > google chat [...] would be available in consumer space I can't imagine they're bringing back the old old thing, are they?
  - 6y ago

timdorr 6y ago

Hangouts == WhatsApp. It's the older chat + video system. It's being split into Meet and Chat. Meet == Zoom. It's video conferences for businesses. Duo == FaceTime. It's video calling, with integrations into the Phone app on Android.

TaylorAlexander 6y ago
I guess “meet” being separate makes sense but I have to say that in the Apple ecosystem “Duo” and “Hangouts” have their counterparts in the unified iMessage/FaceTime system.
- izacus 6y ago
  Hangouts is pretty much a dead product so I see it going away soon anyway.
  - yoz-y 6y ago
    https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2019/01/upcoming-hangouts-service-consolidation.html https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2019/01/upcoming-hangou... There is a timeline, at least for entreprise customers.
    - discreditable 6y ago
      They haven't stuck to that timeline at all. > Classic Hangouts will be retired for all G Suite customers starting in October 2019 Chat within Gmail is still hangouts. Hangouts.google.com still works. Users still use the hangouts apps. On the personal side, if you use Google Fi, SMS integration is still only available via Hangouts. This is a somewhat unique feature of Fi and Google Voice. You can send/receive SMS within Hangouts via browser or app all the same. It's not like the Messages app for web (which relies on your phone being online). They have a newer timeline at https://support.google.com/a/answer/9197126?hl=en&ref_topic=9197125 https://support.google.com/a/answer/9197126?hl=en&ref_topic=...
      - 6y ago

SlowRobotAhead 6y ago

I’m confused because there are like four products now called Duo. Although to be fair, me confusing Duo Security and Duolingo is because I use both and both have nearly the same green for logos.

mey 6y ago
I'm over here eagerly awaiting the Surface Duo

interestica 6y ago

Always thought the name choice was a bit weird. With a name like Duo, are they forever restricted to two-party calls? (Ha) It seems like the other video chat services (eg WhatsApp, Instagram) are incorporating multi user support. The "knock" feature is kinda novel and weird (in a good way). When you call someone, they can see your video feed before they answer the call.

lrem 6y ago
Duo does support up to 8 people in a call. Naming is hard.
- alexhutcheson 6y ago
  12 now: https://twitter.com/sanazahari/status/1243397017868460033 https://twitter.com/sanazahari/status/1243397017868460033
- Mindwipe 6y ago
  Only on mobile. Duo for web does not.
dmitrygr 6y ago
only "a good way" until you(/your grandmother/your kid) get a facefull of unsolicited genitals
- rurp 6y ago
  Lol, "facefull of unsolicited genitals" is not a phrase I expected to read today. I agree though, this feature seems like a solution in search of a problem. If I'm answering the call it seems more natural to activate both cameras at the same time, and for calls I'm not going to answer the video feed just seems unnecessarily distracting. I'm sure that I have never wished for a feature like this.
reaperducer 6y ago
When you call someone, they can see your video feed before they answer the call. Seems like the sort of thing that perverts would take advantage of.

sergiotapia 6y ago

Didn't they have allo? seems like there's zero communication internally at google that they build competing products lol

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
dflock 6y ago
Allo was chat with... stuff. Was killed a while ago.
- JshWright 6y ago
  Wait, wasn't that Wave?
  - aioprisan 6y ago
    Who knows anymore? Google has about 5 different chat products and it's not clear when/why to one over the other.
  - jclos 6y ago
    Ah man, I lost a lot of tech cred among my friends when I was raving about Wave and how it was going to replace everything.
hiccuphippo 6y ago
It seems like at Google creating new stuff gives you promotions, making someone else's project better does not.