The Information is reporting that Google is working on a new communications app that will pull together the company’s existing messaging apps.
Citing sources, including two who have used the new app and three that were briefed on it, the new app will bring together the functionality of several existing ones, including Gmail, Google Drive, Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat. The move is thought to be an answer to Slack and Microsoft Teams.
This is an area where Google has traditionally had little success in, as none of its past efforts have achieved the popularity of its other services, or of competitors’ messaging options. With Slack and Teams becoming indispensable parts of many companies’ workflows, however, Google likely sees this as a pivotal piece of their productivity suite, and another way to ensure they keep customers within their own ecosystem.