Google makes Meet very Zoom-like with new tiled view

Despite all of its security and privacy issues (many of them now fixed), Zoom is still one of the most popular videoconferencing apps around, having risen to prominence at a time when millions are stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

It’s no wonder, then, that its competitors are scrambling to add Zoom-like features to their offerings. The last on that list is Google, which just updated its Meet videoconferencing software with a new tiled layout, which lets users simultaneously see up to 16 participants of the call at once. 

So far, Meet users were only able to see four call participants at once, and while switching to 16 might seem like a small change, it makes a difference between a business meeting and, well, a party. And yes, both Meet and Zoom are primarily oriented toward business customers, but the pandemic has millions of users simply looking for the best videoconferencing app, details be damned. 

The new feature was reported on a week ago, but now it’s official. 

Google introduced three other new features, which it claims were top requests from Meet’s users. You now have the ability to share higher-quality video content, with audio, to other participants of the call. This feature is rolling out to everyone today. 

There’s also a new, low-light mode, which should make you more visible in crappy light — though this is only rolling out to mobile users at the moment, with support for web users coming later. Finally, there’s now a noise cancellation option, which will begin rolling out “in the coming weeks,” first to G Suite Enterprise and G Suite Enterprise for Education customers, starting with web users and later to mobile users.

The changes are welcome, but it’s worth noting that — unlike Zoom — Google Meet isn’t free; it requires a G Suite account, which starts at $6 per month per person. Google does have several free videoconferencing options for personal use, such as Google Hangouts and Duo, but Hangouts does not support a tiled view of call participants, and Duo has a maximum of 12 participants.