Tag Archives: Google Meet

Introducing the Google Meet Live Sharing SDK

Posted by Mai Lowe, Product Manager & Ken Cenerelli, Technical Writer


The Google Meet Live Sharing SDK is in preview. To use the SDK, developers can apply for access through our Early Access Program.

Today at Google I/O 2022, we announced new functionality for app developers to leverage the Google Meet video conferencing product through our new Meet Live Sharing SDK. Users can now come together and share experiences with each other inside an app, such as streaming a TV show, queuing up videos to watch on YouTube, collaborating on a music playlist, joining in a dance party, or working out together though Google Meet. This SDK joins the large set of offerings available to developers under the Google Workspace Platform.

Partners like YouTube, Heads Up!, UNO!™ Mobile, and Kahoot! are already integrating our SDK into their applications so that their users can participate in these new, shared interactive experiences later this year.

Supports multiple use cases


The Live Sharing SDK allows developers to sync content across devices in real time and incorporate Meet into their apps, enabling them to bring new, fun, and genuinely connecting experiences to their users. It’s also a great way to reach new audiences as current users can introduce your app to friends and family.

The SDK supports two key use cases:
  • Co-Watching—Syncs streaming app content across devices in real time, and allows users to take turns sharing videos and playing the latest hits from their favorite artist. This allows for users to share controls such as starting and pausing a video, or selecting new content in the app.
  • Co-Doing—Syncs arbitrary app content, allowing users to get together to perform an activity like playing video games or follow the same workout regime.


The co-watching and co-doing APIs are independent but can be used in parallel with each other.


Example workflow illustration of a user starting live sharing within an app using the Live Sharing SDK.


Get started


To learn more, watch our I/O 2022 session on the Google Meet Live Sharing SDK and check out the documentation for the Android version.

If you want to try out the SDK, developers can apply for access through our Early Access Program.


What’s next?


We’re also continuing to improve features by working to build the video-content experience you want to bring to your users. For more announcements like this and for info about the Google Workspace Platform and APIs, subscribe to our developer newsletter.

Easily search for Google Meet content in Google Drive

Quick summary 

In Google Drive, you can now use app:”Google Meet” to easily find and organize Meet content such as: 

  • Meeting recordings 
  • Chat transcripts 
  • Attendance reports 
  • Polls or question and answer reports 
  • Meeting transcripts 
  • Meeting notes created in Google Calendar 

We hope this update makes it easier for you to quickly and efficiently find files related to Meet events in Drive. For example, you can search for Meet transcripts by the words they contain instead of their file format, Meet videos based on what folders they may be in (such as My Drive), or Meet recordings based on the date they were recorded. 



Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: When searching for Meet related files in Drive, use app:“Google Meet” in your query. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
  • Available to users with personal Google accounts

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – May 6, 2022

New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all legacy Google Workspace and G Suite customers.


Space descriptions and guidelines in Google Chat rolling out now
Earlier this year, we announced the ability for space managers to add descriptions and guidelines for their spaces. This feature is now available on mobile and will be gradually rolling out for web. | Learn more here and here.


Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.


Use new table templates and dropdown chips in Google Docs to create highly collaborative documents
We’re introducing two new enhancements for our flexible, smart canvas for collaboration: dropdown chips and table templates in Google Docs. | Learn more. 


Share your video feed when using Companion mode in Google Meet
When using Companion mode in Google Meet, you can now turn your camera on and share your video feed with all other participants. | Learn more.


Set recurring task end options directly in Google Tasks
You can set the end option for a recurring task (never, on a certain date, or after X occurrences) directly in Google Tasks. | Learn more.


Space managers can now delete messages in Google Chat
This feature will allow Space managers to easily moderate their spaces and remove any content that is irrelevant or inappropriate in the space. | Learn more.


For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Share your video feed when using Companion mode in Google Meet

Quick summary 

When using Companion mode in Google Meet, you can now turn your camera on and share your video feed with all other participants. For in-room participants attending a hybrid meeting, this feature helps improve collaboration and representation equity by giving everyone the ability to share their own video with other on-call participants.


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: 
    • This feature will be available by default. You can join a meeting on the web using Companion mode from the green room before your meeting. To share your video feed, select “Turn on camera” from the Meet toolbar.
    • Use this Help Center article and video guide to learn more about using Companion mode in Google Meet.

Rollout pace

Share your video feed when using Companion mode in Google Meet

Quick summary 

When using Companion mode in Google Meet, you can now turn your camera on and share your video feed with all other participants. For in-room participants attending a hybrid meeting, this feature helps improve collaboration and representation equity by giving everyone the ability to share their own video with other on-call participants.


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: 
    • This feature will be available by default. You can join a meeting on the web using Companion mode from the green room before your meeting. To share your video feed, select “Turn on camera” from the Meet toolbar.
    • Use this Help Center article and video guide to learn more about using Companion mode in Google Meet.

Rollout pace

Set up host controls and assign co-hosts ahead of meetings in Google Calendar

Quick summary

In addition to setting up Google Meet breakout rooms in advance in Google Calendar, meeting organizers can also: 
  • Turn meeting safety features on or off, such as chat lock, present lock, and more. 
  • Designate co-hosts before the meeting. 

We hope that by allowing meeting hosts to pre-configure additional settings and assign co-hosts, meetings can flow more smoothly. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing Meet safety settings and Host Management. 
  • End users: To configure host control and co-host options when scheduling a meeting in Google Calendar, select “Add Google Meet video conferencing” > “Video call options” (gear icon) > Host controls or Co-hosts. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

Moderation Settings 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers. 
  • Available to users with a personal Google account 

Co-host settings 
  • Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Business Standard, Business Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, and Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources 

New port for Google Meet media and TLS support for Meet on mobile

Quick launch summary 

Google Meet now supports SRTP in TLS on mobile, which increases overall compatibility and helps ensure a higher quality video meetings with Google Meet. 


In addition, Meet is introducing support to UDP port 3478 to deliver media (note that existing ports 19302–19309 deliver media as well). 


Getting started 

  • Admins: If you already use Meet today, configure your network to support Meet on port 3478. Note: If the port is blocked, Meet will fallback to port 19302​–19309. If you use DPI technology on port 443, add the corresponding user SNIs to the allowlist: 
    • Google Workspace admins: Meet traffic over TLS and port 3478 will use the same fixed IP range dedicated for Google Meet in Google Workspace domains. 
    • Non-Google Workspace admins: Meet traffic over TLS and port 3478 will use the fixed IP range dedicated for non-Google Workspace users. 
  • End users: No end-user impact. 

Rollout pace 

Meet traffic over TLS 
  • This feature is available now. 

Meet traffic over port 3478: 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources 

Join a Google Meet call from Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides

What’s changing 

You can now join a Google Meet call from Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. In addition to the present to Meet option, you can select “Join the call” to quickly join and present a document, spreadsheet, or presentation to all attendees, allowing everyone in the meeting to collaborate while having a conversation.



Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 


Why it’s important 

To help teams do their best work in the hybrid work world, as many of us begin a return to office, we continue to make enhancements to Google Meet to help ensure that video meetings are inclusive and collaborative no matter the location or device preference. 

We hope this feature makes it easier for everyone in the meeting to collaborate in real-time while having a conversation—all from the same tab. 


Getting started 


Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility starting on April 12, 2022 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 2, 2022 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources 


Roadmap 

Additional improvements for Google Meet

What’s changing 

We’re introducing two improvements for Google Meet: 
  • Prompts to exit meetings when you’re the only user in a meeting. 
  • A centralized location for host management controls. 

See below for more information. 


Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

Leave empty call reminders 
Now, when you’re the only person in a meeting for five minutes, you’ll receive a prompt asking whether you want to stay or leave the meeting. If you don’t respond after two minutes, you will automatically leave the meeting. 




We hope that this feature will help prevent situations where your audio or video is unintentionally shared. 




This feature will be available for Google Meet on desktop and iOS devices (this will launch on Android soon) — see below for availability. 


Host Management controls update 
Currently, host and co-host controls can be found in multiple locations in Meet. For a more user intuitive experience, we’ve consolidated all host and co-host features in a single, central location under the “Host controls” menu. We hope this change makes it easier to manage your meeting settings by reducing the need to switch between various menus. 

This update is specifically for Google Meet on desktop. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin action required. 
  • End users: Leave empty call reminders: This feature will be ON by default and can be turned off by the user. Visit the Help Center to learn more. 



  • Host management controls can now be found under the “Host Controls” button located in the bottom bar. 





Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on April 11, 2022 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on April 18, 2022 

Availability 

Meeting exit reminders
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers Also available to users with personal Google accounts 

Host Management menu updates 
  • The Host management menu updates are available for all users. 

New Google Meet management settings for admins

What’s changing

Through new settings in the Admin console, admins can now control access to the following Google Meet features:

  • Chat
  • Present
  • Q&A
  • Polls

These new settings are available for Google Workspace editions that include admin capabilities. See below for more information.


Who’s impacted

Admins and end users


Why it’s important

Previously, only the meeting hosts and co-hosts could control access to these features on a per meeting basis. Now admins will be able to specify which interactive Meet features users in their domain can access. 


These features give administrators more control over how Google Meet is used in their organization. For example, in a school, these settings allow you to control whether or not students can present or send chat messages during video meetings. In business settings, specifically at large company meetings, giving the event host control over whether or not to conduct polls or Q&As during video meetings is a useful feature.


Additional details

Once an admin turns access to a particular feature off, the setting will be applied to all new and existing meetings for users in the selected organizational unit.


Features that are turned off won’t be accessible to end users — see the Help Center for more information.


Getting started

  • Admins: These features are enabled by default. Access to these features can be controlled at the OU level  in the Admin console under Apps > Google Workspace > Google Meet > Meet safety settings.  Visit the Help Center to learn more about Google Meet admin settings.

  • End users: Your admin will determine access to present, chat, Q&A, and polling features in Google Meet.


Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace editions with Admin console access.
  • You’ll see admin toggles for the Google Meet features available to your specific Google Workspace edition.

Resources