Zoom’s custom background feature has been handy for many enabling them to create virtual backgrounds to cover their real home office surrounding. As such, the feature has been adopted by more productivity platforms, and the latest is Google’s Meet.
Google Meet has started rolling out custom backgrounds to its users on Chrome OS, Windows and Mac. The only caveat is you must use Google’s flagship Chrome browser to use the feature. Support for mobile apps is yet to come, so for now, you’ll have to use the web version if you want to use the feature.
As in Zoom, Google Meet has its own library of custom backgrounds. The available collection includes images of different office spaces, landscapes and abstract backgrounds. Besides, Google Meet allows you to upload and use your own images as custom backgrounds, so the choices are infinite.
The best thing is you don’t need any additional extension or software to activate the feature. Google Meet’s custom background feature is OFF by default so remember to enable it manually in before or during your next video call.
Google plans to give Admins control on how the feature is used in the future. Google Console admins will be able to control if users can use the feature or not, similar to what is currently available for G Suite for Education and G Suite Enterprise for Education users.
The feature is rolling out in phases; you may have to wait for at least a week before it becomes available on your end. Google Meet hosted an average of 235 million daily meetings in Q3, according to the company’s CEO Sundar Pichai in a recent earning’s call.
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