Google Meet will soon allow users to add images or a blur effect to backgrounds on video calls, reports 9to5Google.

google meet
In addition, Google told The Verge that it is working on several other features that should make Meet more competitive against rival videoconferencing platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

These new options include real-time captioning, a low-light mode, hand-raising, and a tile view of up to 49 other people on a video call.

No release date for the upcoming features has been given, but Google is understood to be previewing some of them to education and enterprise customers.

Google made its premium Meet service free to use in April, and the company followed that up by announcing Meet integration for Gmail on iOS and Android.

Anyone interested in using Google Meet can download the Hangouts Meet iOS app from the App Store or head to meet.google.com to use the web browser version.

Top Rated Comments

japanime Avatar
50 months ago

Google’s latest me too product that will probably have 5 rebrands.
Coming soon: Google Bunch.



Attachment Image
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
japanime Avatar
50 months ago
Cool! I'm gonna make a Google Meet background image of Sundar Pichai looking over my shoulder. :p
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
biziclop Avatar
50 months ago
Something tells me that the people on the image have absolutely nothing to do with each other in real life. :)
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Westside guy Avatar
50 months ago

Don’t know who I trust less ?
Google or
Zoom???
Well, at least you can assume Zoom will still be offering their videoconference product a few years down the road. Google will probably have killed Meet off by then and cycled through a couple replacements.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wanted797 Avatar
50 months ago
I love how everyone has perfect head height photos.

Yeah like anyone’s webcam is positioned like that.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sirozha Avatar
50 months ago
Google Meet allowed my son to learn remotely for 10 weeks once the schools closed down. The school went from never using the platform to 100% live online lessons in one day. Google Classroom was amazing. All the misdirected hate should be addressed to Apple, which has nothing to offer at all.

Google is improving Google Meet while Apple is not even working on creating an educational platform that’s suitable for remote learning.

Schools will be closed the next school year. My son’s school will be using Google Classroom. If they bring these new features (especially raising hands) by the beginning of the school year, this will make Google Classroom even more awesome.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
iPhone 15 Pro FineWoven

Apple Reportedly Stops Production of FineWoven Accessories

Sunday April 21, 2024 6:03 am PDT by
Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories, according to the Apple leaker and prototype collector known as "Kosutami." In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kosutami explained that Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories due to its poor durability. The company may move to another non-leather material for its premium accessories in the future. Kosutami has revealed...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. The lack of ...
Provenance Emulator

PlayStation and SEGA Emulator for iPhone and Apple TV Coming to App Store [Updated]

Friday April 19, 2024 8:29 am PDT by
The lead developer of the multi-emulator app Provenance has told iMore that his team is working towards releasing the app on the App Store, but he did not provide a timeframe. Provenance is a frontend for many existing emulators, and it would allow iPhone and Apple TV users to emulate games released for a wide variety of classic game consoles, including the original PlayStation, SEGA Genesis,...