Google Took the Google Duo Icon Away Again

My wife messaged me on Friday to ask what the app was called that she uses every day to call me because she couldn’t find it. The app she needed to find was Google Duo, which was killed off by Google back in August, only to be brought back in icon form a couple of weeks later because people (like my wife) were still trying to find it.

As it turns out, an update sent out this weekend once again removed the Google Duo icon from the app drawer (and apparently on some home screens).

For me, the Duo icon I placed back on my home screen at the end of August has been replaced by Meet. I’m running a Pixel 7, although I’m not sure it matters much. My phone seemed to automatically make the switch back to Meet, while hers did something funny that threw her off. She said she was wondering what the missing space was all of a sudden on one of her home screens and this change must have been it.

So Google is apparently trying this once again, hoping that you and your friends and family (and my wife) will all remember that Duo is gone and Meet is here to replace it.

The weird thing about removing Duo and then bringing it back only to remove it again, is that Google appears to have done so without any other warning. Remember that when Duo was first going away, they filled the app with warnings about the Meet rebranding. This time it’s just – boom! Gone.

So long again, dear friend, Duo.