Google to improve and expand its Meet video experience in May
Next month, Google will update the Meet video conferencing service user interface for desktop users. The new web version of the service will improve video streams, improve the navigation bar and redesign the presentation of conferences. By the way, most of the new features for Google Meet are already present in Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
The latest update to Google Meet will allow users to no longer see their face in conference mode, completely hide their own video stream, or reduce the view to a tiny size. Besides, the user can customize the meeting attendee grid to suit their preferences. Those who often have to work with presentations will be pleased with the advanced options for pinning and unpinning content. The presenter will be able to unpin the presentation tile quickly, and it will be the same size as the video streams of other participants. Google Meet will also allow attendees to pin multiple video streams during a call.
One of the most useful new features is the improved meeting bottom bar. It will allow you to combine all the controls in one place. This means that the chat, attachments, and the list of participants will be located at the bottom of the window, freeing up more space for video streams. The call end button will move away from the camera and microphone buttons, which minimizes the possibility of accidentally pressing it.
In addition to all of the above, Google is bringing low-light mode to the web version of Meet. This feature will automatically adjust the webcam video to make the user more visible in a dimly lit room. It will also correct the video if too much light enters the camera from a window behind the user.
Paid Google Workspace subscribers will have access to the new autoscaling feature in Google Meet in the coming months. This AI-powered feature will follow the user by placing them in the center of the frame if they move. Google Meet will also feature a background replacement, a long-standing presence in rival Zoom in the coming weeks.
