Google is working on another new messaging app. This new unified messaging app from the company is meant for businesses and brings "together the functions of several standalone apps" into one. It will combine the email from Gmail, storage of Google Drive, messaging aspect of Hangouts Chat, and video calling part of Hangouts Meet.
While Google Calendar integration will also be there, users will still be required to open the app.
Google is planning on launching this new unified messaging service as a part of G Suite. Google"s Cloud unit CEO Thomas Kurian discussed this new app with salespersons at a conference in mid-January. The new messaging service will be available to businesses via a mobile application. It is unclear if Google is working on a web version of the messaging service or not.
The report from The Information citing two people who have been briefed about the app said that Google is hoping to compete with application suites from Microsoft, Slack, and other companies. It looks like Google is hoping to position this unified messaging app as a rival to Slack and Microsoft Teams. Right now, Google offers plenty of services for enterprises but lacks a direct competitor to Slack and Teams.
The report also says that the G Suite team is "almost exclusively working on products with enterprise customers in mind." Given the focus on enterprise, this new unified messaging app is unlikely to be released for regular customers. At the moment it is unclear when Google plans on releasing this new unified messaging app for businesses.