Google is working on yet another app for communication. The new app targeted at workplaces will offer a unified experience with Google’s messaging apps and services rolled into one app. A new report from The Information confirms the same. The new app will include services like Gmail and Drive.
Expect an integration of most, if not all Google services in the new application. This includes G Suite apps like Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, Calendar, Hangouts, Keep and Vault. The new service will also merge the various Google Hangouts versions. Hangouts have been split into two versions lately. Hangouts Meet is a video chat app while Hangouts Chat is a text-based successor to Gchat. The question arises if Google really needs yet another communication device after an abundance of services out there.
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Google’s history of communication apps
These include Google Hangouts, Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat. Then there is Duo for video calling, followed by a recent RCS-based Android chat app called Chat. The company also had a Gmail alternative app called Inbox and a mobile chat application called Allo. However, these two services have since been discontinued.
Again, there was an Android messaging alternative from the brand. Google Voice is also still out there. The company has said in the past that it wants Hangouts Meet to integrate all Voice features. That suggests that Voice will also be taken down in the future.
According to The Information, the new app could help Google win enterprise customers. Enterprise customers today have moved all corporate communication to apps like Microsoft Teams and Slack. Both services offer a variety of voice and video-based services. They also provide integration with services like Dropbox and Salesforce. This is probably the direction Google wants to head towards with its new app. Integrating services into enterprise communication app offers seamless integration. This could help work be more efficient.
