SAN FRANCISCO, July 17 — Hot on the heels of the integration of Meet in the web version of Gmail, Google has announced that the video-conferencing tool will also be directly integrated in the mail service’s mobile application.
Installed on some two billion smartphones, the Gmail mobile integration will pave the way for a major increase in the quantity of video-calls worldwide.
During the coronavirus lockdown massive numbers of internet users made use of video-conferencing tools to stay in contact with work and also with family and friends.
It was at this time, in March 2020, that Google decided to make Meet’s advanced features — which were previously only available to enterprise users — accessible to all directly from Gmail.
Now with the integration of Meet in Gmail mobile, users will be able to host video conferences from any location using a smartphone.
The idea is to provide a well-trusted application to the vast number of smartphone users that are already familiar with Google Suite, regardless of their location or the age of their equipment.
The functioning of the Meet feature has also been simplified to the point where it is now accessible via a simple tab at the bottom of the Gmail screen, which allows users to launch a video meeting with multiple contacts with just a few clicks.
At the other end of the line, users responding to a request for a video meeting simply have to click a specific link as and when they receive it.
The new feature will be progressively deployed from July 16.
The Gmail for mobile application is available for download from Google Play (Android) Apple’s App Store (iOS). — AFP-Relaxnews
