Google Meet may soon add these ‘non-work’ features for Android users – Times of India

Google Meet is a business/education-focused service which also includes some “steep limitations” for using it with a free Google Account. However, the tech giant has decided to replace Google Duo with Google Meet to make it the company’s primary app for video calling and conferencing in the upcoming months. Meanwhile, Google Meet continues adding new features which are expected to get carried over to its new home within the app currently known as — “Duo”.
According to a report by 9to5Google, the latest update for Google Meet will allow the platform “to do more than just get work done in video meetings.” The report suggests that the video calling app might support — YouTube, Spotify, UNO and other “non-work” tools in the upcoming days. However, these features are now under development and were spotted in the APK teardown of the latest update version 2022.07.24 which has been rolled out through the Play Store.
As per the report, these upcoming features are expected to “make Google Meet more of a fun place.” The report also mentions that APKs contain various lines of code that hint at possible future features and suggests that Google may or may not ever ship these features.

New changes expected for Google Meet
The report claims that users will be able to “live share” multiple apps with other Google Meet participants when these features launch. These features do not only include business-ready options like GQueues to-do lists but will also include interactive games like — UNO and Kahoot along with other streaming apps like — YouTube and Spotify. Moreover, each of these apps already has its icons inside Google Meet.
How will these in-app features work
Google Meet won’t introduce these apps/games directly into the video call, rather it will integrate itself with their respective Android apps. Google will redirect a Meet call to a third-party app when a participant wants to use live sharing to ensure that the group (in the call) sticks together. However, the report mentions that live sharing will only be available for Android users, with no information about iOS or Web support.

As per the report, Google is expected to create a new lobby in Meet for games like UNO. Participants who want to join the lobby can do the same with a single tap. However, the report doesn’t clarify how Google Meet will keep media apps like YouTube and Spotify in sync across call participants. Moreover, similar third-party services will live-stream a browser window of an app like — YouTube or Netflix to every participant in the call.
Meanwhile, Google’s approach seems to involve remotely controlling the various participants, the report suggests. In-app “toasts” also suggest that call participants will be allowed to remotely pause/resume whatever is being shared.