Google brought back Duo (kind of) because its Meet transition is so confusing

The plan to consolidate its communication services into Meet was supposed to make it easier to understand. To a truly impressive degree, it was meant to bring about some sense and order for a company that has always overthought things. The company changed its name to Meet and brought over features from Meet. The original Meet app had a new name. It made for an excellent headline.

Duo's identity change has not been well received by some customers. The original Duo icon and name can be found in the app launcher as a separate shortcut. The tap on Duo opens the meeting. You can either use the same application or use another method.

The move was made so that users would be able to launch Meet by searching for Duo, just as they had before. The fact that this was necessary again points to a company that has lost its focus on these services.

The Duo shortcut might be helpful to ease the transition, but it also opens the door to more confusion when you're told to use the Meet name and icon as your one app for video calling and meetings. Is it no longer the case? There are two icons and two names for the same app. If you open up the multitasking view after launching Meet, you will see Duo's icon up top.

Screenshot by Chris Welch / The Verge

Everyone did a great job There was no note. After all of this, we will end up with just messages, chat, and hangouts, but the road is proving quite convoluted.

I'm happy it's Friday.