Google Meet is one of the best video conferencing service platforms for all kinds of video meetings, from group chats with friends to business conferences. It has seen quite a few improvements over the past several months as Google trying to find ways to expand your ways of interacting while talking with colleagues or family and friends.
Google is now rolling out a new feature for Google Meet: in-meeting emoji reactions that appear “as a small badge in the sender’s video tile,” that let you tell speakers or participants or your friends what you think without actually speaking “when there are multiple user engagements.” You could give use a thumbs up (or down!) emoji or sparkly heart emoji or crying-laughing emoji face, and that emoji reaction will float up the left side of your screen.
You will get a reaction bar, which appears between hand raise and screen share. Google has added a total of nine characters in the reaction bar: Sparkling Heart, Thumbs Up, Party Popper, Clapping Hands, Face with Tears of Joy, Astonished Face, Thinking Face, Crying Face, and Thumbs Down.
You need to tap the new smiling face button in the bottom row to send a reaction. Then you’ll get a new reaction bar. At the right, you can “hover on this bar to select the skin tone of your choice, which will then be applied to all emojis subject to change color.
Google confirmed this new feature is rolling out now to Google Meet on Web, iOS, and Meet Hardware devices, and will continue to roll out throughout the month. Android is “coming soon,” with full availability in the coming weeks. They’ll first arrive at Google Meet on the Web.
Google is about to bring another feature called 360 degree backgrounds in the coming week. Users on mobile will be able to insert 360 degree backgrounds that shift around based on your device’s gyroscope for a more immersive experience. Last year, Google has added a few improvements for crystal clear audio and a less noisy background. Google Meet has also got picture-in-picture support to Chrome to let you open an urgent document without missing visual cues during a meeting.