Chrome Duplex will be renamed to avoid the obvious confusion with Google Duplex

Abner Li | Jul 4 2018 - 11:53 am PT

With Chrome 69, Chrome Duplex is taking shape with a design that balances easy access to controls on large devices and the traditional top address bar. Now, the latest change for Chrome’s split toolbar look is to its name, thus avoiding the obvious confusion with another up-and-coming Google product.

While the “Duplex” name publicly dates back to February, Google’s browser team is losing out to the Assistant division, which in all likelihood has been developing its Duplex product for quite a while longer. Spotted by Chrome Story (via Android Police), a Chromium commit from earlier this week reveals the rename and notes the obvious reason.

Rename Chrome Duplex to Chrome Duet

This rename is to avoid name collision with Google Duplex; a feature
completely unrelated to Chrome toolbars.

Google Duplex deserves the name given that it’s a higher profile product. If Chrome Duplex ever launches, Google will likely not draw intention to the internal development name. In comparison, Google Duplex has already been showcased to the public at I/O 2018, while it will be a wide-ranging technology that spans across both Assistant and Search.

In the former, it will be used to make phone reservations on behalf of users starting later this summer. Meanwhile, end users will first encounter and benefit from Duplex through Search listings that update based on calls to businesses to get the latest holiday hours.

This Duet rename is not yet live in the latest build (69.0.3481.0) of Chrome Canary for Android.