Google has added some slight improvements to its Meet – its clone to video calling services such as Zoom. The video communication service seems to be getting loads of helpful tweaks to its hand-raising feature as part of the company’s ongoing updates to Workspace.
Having announced on a blog post, the minor updates include the new hand-raising animation, better notification sound, and adjustments to how hosts are made aware of raised hands.
Though the change seems minor, anyone using Google Meet in a large group setting or who uses the platform to attend webinars, will find the tweaks very helpful — most especially, the new animation.
What’s the need for the update
According to 9to5Google, the Search Giant wants the ‘raising of hand’ noticeable so the host can address any issue or respond to any question or concern. “A dot animates in the bottom-left corner with an actual waving hand that then expands to a pill to show the person’s full name,” 9to5Google reports.
Meanwhile, the tiles of people with raised hands can be moved to be more visible in the grid view, while there will be an “audio notification for all participants when the first raised hand is raised.” Another alert that shows the number of raised hands will also link to an ordered list of hand raises.
What to expect
Expect to see the following changes in the update as it rolls out to Workspace users:
✓ A new and improved visual icon and animation on the video tile.
✓ The tiles of people with raised hands may be moved to be more visible in the video grid.
✓ An audio notification for every participant when the first hand is raised.
✓ A clickable notification which shows you the number of raised hands and which links to an ordered queue of all participants with raised hands.
✓ That a participant’s hand will be automatically lowered after they speak.
9to5Google has confirmed that these features will be enabled by default.
According to Google, the improvements updates will be available for any meeting created by hosts with the following;
- Workspace Essentials,
- Business Standard,
- Business Plus,
- Enterprise Essentials,
- Enterprise Standard,
- Enterprise Plus,
- Education Fundamentals,
- Education Plus,
- Nonprofit, and
- G Suite Business accounts.
