Google has been rapidly iterating on Meet in the past year, and that’s continuing today alongside updates to Gmail and Workspace. Google Meet is getting a “Companion Mode” to provide a second-screen experience as part of a push to make hybrid meetings more equitable.
- Google Workspace is now available ‘for everyone’ and gets new paid ‘Individual’ tier
- Gmail for web getting navigation redesign as Chat ‘Rooms’ are now called ‘Spaces’
- Google Workspace adding Client-side encryption for Drive and Docs apps
Companion Mode is designed to seamlessly connect those in the room with their remote teammates, giving everyone advanced features to participate, while leveraging the best of in-room audio and video conferencing capabilities.
On the web, you’ll be able to present, send messages to video call participants, take part in Q&A or polls, and raise your hand. Some second screen experiences will also be available on the Nest Hub Max.
Colleagues who are in the same meeting room together will enable Companion Mode on their personal devices, giving them their own video tile in Meet and helping them to stay connected with their remote teammates.
Google Meet’s Companion Mode will be available on the web in September and is coming soon to mobile.
Another improvement to the Meet experience will let you specify on an RSVP whether you’re joining a call virtually or in person.
On the safety front, admins will be better able to set policies for who can join meetings. A new moderation control will allow hosts to disable in-meeting chat and presenting during meetings, as well as full control over mute and unmute.
More about Google Meet:
- You can now set different or blurred backgrounds in Google Meet for Android
- Google rolling out Meet video backgrounds on web, also coming to mobile
- Google Meet adds ‘gentle’ notifications & custom recommendations for improving call quality
- Meet web redesign rolling out now with full availability in June
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
