Hangouts Meet is now Google Meet, new privacy focused features announced

Google Hangouts Meet is now named just Google Meet. The name, Hangouts isn’t something Google is fond of anymore, in case you haven’t noticed by now. The original Hangouts app has been sounded the death knell with Google set to discontinue it from June 2020. Instead, Google rolled out two apps – Hangouts Chat and Hangout Meets. In a new move, Hangouts Meet has been renamed once again to Google Meet.

The new name was first spotted by Android Police. The mobile apps are still showing the old name, but that’s soon going to change given that the web app has already been renamed.

The Hangouts Meet app could only be used by G Suite users which is Google’s bundled services for office apps like Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.

Google has written a detailed blog post talking about how Google Meet helps video conferences stay protected. That includes proactive protection against hijacking attempts, access controls for admins and more.

The reason for the change in name is not certain, however. But to be fair, Google has been shuffling around with names of its messaging apps for a while now. Yet, going by how Hangouts wasn’t quite popular among corporate users, a change in name can help compete with rivals like Zoom and Skype.

Yet, Google’s confused messaging app strategy continues. The company shuttered one of the two messaging apps it launched in 2017 by the name of Allo. Google+ was also shuttered around the same time, while the Hangouts app will be gone in 2020.

With Zoom facing privacy issues and Skype having conceded its share to Zoom, Google must have thought this would be the best time for a new product that comes with the trust the Google brand has acquired over the years of being secure and user-friendly.

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