Google Meet Knows You Hate Your Face, Will Let You Hide It

Google Meet announced that it is refreshing its web interface to improve video presentations and help you focus during calls. The UI improvements come as Google Meet introduces new call backgrounds and a low-light feature that automatically improves crappy video quality.

One of Google’s goals with this UI refresh is increased screen real estate. Google is moving all of the Meet controls to the bottom of your screen, freeing up room to make video feeds as large as possible. Google Meet will also allow you to resize or minimize your call window so you don’t have to look at yourself during meetings, though doing so doesn’t affect what other participants see on-screen.

Google Meet is also improving its “pin” feature, making it easier to pin or unpin feeds and allowing multiple video feeds to be pinned at the same time. Pinning more than one feed could help people focus during large presentations, or improve accessibility for participants who are hearing impaired and require an ASL interpreter.

Along with its UI improvements, Google Meet is porting its low-light feature from its mobile app to the web. Scenes with poor lighting or too much background lighting will automatically adjust to improve visibility. Some new video backgrounds, including a classroom, will also arrive on Google Meet’s mobile and web platforms in the coming weeks.

The updated Google Meet UI should start rolling out in May, though the low-light mode and new backgrounds could come a bit earlier. Google Meet currently offers unlimited video calls for free, but will return to a limited-call model on June 30th.

Source: Google