Update
[May 13, 2021]: We have updated this post to reflect a change in rollout. For Rapid release domains. rollout will begin on May 24, 2021. For Scheduled release domains, rollout will begin on June 1, 2021. See the below for more information.
What’s changing
Inspired by your feedback, we’re rolling out a refreshed Google Meet desktop/laptop experience with updates to video feeds, the viewing and presenting experience, and the bottom bar.
Video feeds
- Hover over your video feed for options between a tile in the grid or a floating picture. You can also resize, reposition, and hide it to concentrate on the call.
- Your self-view appears in the bottom right of the grid to put more video feeds at eye-level as you look into the camera.
Viewing and presenting experience
- See what you are presenting while in Google Meet.
- Unpin the content you or others share to see more and larger video feeds.
- Participant names are always visible regardless of meeting size.
Bottom bar
- Meeting dial-in codes, attachments, the participants list, chat, and other activities are at the bottom right to create more vertical space for seeing people and content.
- Controls are consolidated in one place with descriptions available upon hover.
- Leave call button is moved away from the microphone and camera buttons to prevent accidental call hang-ups.
- Bottom bar is always visible, while not covering cover captions and bottom video feeds.
Other visual updates include
- When someone speaks, their tile is outlined in blue.
- Mute indicators are subdued to reduce visual distraction.
- When there are more participants than can be shown on the grid, a tile is added so you always remember who’s on the call.
Hide your own self-feed
Who’s impacted
End users
Why you’d use it
Enjoy a simpler, more flexible experience that lets you participate with confidence in Google Meet calls as a presenter, attendee, teacher or student, knowing you have more control over your video feed, layouts, and content.
Additional details
- Users will see a banner before joining a call that says “Meet has a new look” when this refreshed user interface is enabled for them.
- Use of Chrome extensions (including the Grid View extension) could impact your experience. Uninstalling any extensions that interact with Google Meet could resolve this.
- For better presentations and to avoid mirroring, share a different window or a specific tab instead of the meeting window.
- In some cases, your self-view could appear with gray bars at the top and bottom to show you everything your camera sees. Other participants might see a cropped version of your video feed.
Getting started
Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: This feature will be ON for everyone.
Rollout pace
- Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 24, 2021
- Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 1, 2021
Availability
- Available to all Workspace users. Also available if you're using Google Meet with a personal Google account.