What you need to know
- Google Meet has swapped some of its in-app controls in an attempt to "organize features more intuitively."
- Emoji reactions will now be visible in the bottom bar, while the hand raise option takes a back seat in the three-dot menu.
- These changes will reflect on both Android and iOS devices.
Google seems like it is focused on creating a more seamless experience for its users on Meet. In a recent Workspace update post, Google said it is rearranging some of its in-app controls on Meet so that its most used features are easily accessible, "this will help you to navigate the Meet layout faster and more intuitively," the post added.
To start, Emoji reactions that were once hidden in the three-dot menu will now take position front and center, within the bottom bar on the Meet call screen. This will help users quickly react to conversations, by Simply tapping the Emoji toggle to access or hide the reaction picker.
Secondly, the 'hand raise' feature has now been moved to the triple-dot menu, from Meet's bottom access bar, swapping it with the emoji reactions. It's unclear why Google would choose to hide the hand raise option since most people tend to use it on work calls.
Seems like the company was focusing on the personal meet conversations while making this change. It is important to note that these changes will only reflect on mobile devices, if you’re using a larger screen device, such as a tablet, the 'Hand Raise' icon will remain in the bottom bar or the main call menu.
Additionally, Google is cleaning things up with the overflow menu on the app so that it looks a little less cluttered. With the redesign, the 'Host management controls' will now be moved deep within the settings menu, under the “General” section. The option to 'report a problem' will also be seated in the Settings menu, giving the main call menu a less cluttered look.
These changes have already started showing up on Android devices, as of Feb.20, and will be seen on iOS devices starting Feb.24. For Android phones, the minimum build required to see these updates is:
Meet: 291.0.722438190.duo.android_20250202.14
Gmail: 2025.02.02.722438226
Lastly, Google switched the end call button to the bottom right instead of the left side, only for iOS users. Along with these redesign changes, the company recently announced that the transcripts for Live Captions and Translate on Meet that only remained on the screen briefly will now be available for 30 minutes.
