Google Meet is officially getting blur and backgrounds, closes gap on Zoom and Teams
Follow-up to Google Hangouts get much-loved feature
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Probably one of the most frequently requested features for regular users ofGoogle Meet, the company’s popularvideo conferencing software,is the ability to blur outcall backgroundsand add in custom versions.
Microsoft TeamsandZoomalready offer this feature, and we can now confirmGoogleis planning to introduce it soon on both mobile and desktop.
Tucked away in a document that sets out upcomingG Suitereleases are the following two entries: “Background blur and replace (for mobile)” and “Background blur and replace (for desktop)”. The feature is described as the ability to “blur the background or replace it with an image or video on desktop.”
However, it’s worth noting the document is subject to a few caveats. New items are added roughly every three months and newly introduced features are removed, and the list of releases is not an official commitment and is subject to change without notice. Finally, the listed releases are not “guaranteed to become generally available and may be modified from their current form”.
Other features are likely to be rolled out at the same time, as Meet takes over from its predecessor Hangouts for good. Also in the same development bucket are meeting moderation controls, the ability to dial out to an international phone number from a Meet video call, cloud-based noise cancellation, breakout rooms and the integration of Google’s digital whiteboard.
Google Meet is simple to useand offers a growing list of features for millions of workers that have had to adjust their working patterns as a result of the pandemic. The service was previously paid for butbecame freein May, with the company also announcingtighter Gmail integration.
Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled inwebsite buildersandweb hostingwhen DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.
7 myths about email security everyone should stop believing
Best Usenet client of 2024
Sihoo Doro S100 ergonomic office chair review
