Previously a business-only service, Google Meet opened up to everyone last year as a highly contagious virus began to take over and people needed a tool to effectively replace meetings in face to face. While Zoom remains arguably the most popular option, Google Meet has quickly grown into a very solid alternative with a huge feature set and market share. Now Google Meet is getting a revamp along with options to make your calls more accessible and engaging.
The new design of Google Meet, as announced in an official blog post, includes a more spacious design that is more focused on video feeds, taking up as much empty space as possible with tiles for each person’s feed, which are also more adapted to those of Google. current design language (the mobile version of the app also got a redesign not too long ago) instead of the current grid-like view. Conversely, if you don’t want to see your own face on a call, the new modern user interface also lets you minimize or hide your own video feed, and there are also changes to how the video streams are displayed. Video streams are pinned and not pinned: for example, you can highlight both a presentation and the speaker, or multiple speakers at the same time.
Other added features include a data saver feature that can optimize video calls in slower internet connections by limiting data usage, which is very useful in countries with slower internet or service plans. expensive data. Low-light mode, which was also introduced in the Google Meet app on mobile, is also making its way to the web version. This function can automatically detect whether there is too much or not enough light and / or exposure on a user’s face and enhance the video feed to appear much clearer. Autozoom is also designed to improve visibility by automatically positioning yourself in front of your camera.
Last but not least, video backgrounds are making their way to Google Meet, which can change the background of your video feed to your liking. We used to have image backgrounds for your calls, which allowed you to select from a list of backgrounds or upload your own image. Now animated backgrounds are available and Google lets you choose from an initial list of 3: a classroom, a party, and a forest.
These features should start rolling out in the coming weeks, although Autozoom will, at least, be available to corporate users initially.