Google Meet is rolling out a new feature that will allow you to pause the video streams for individual tiles to improve focus on frequent speakers or presenters.
To turn off individual feeds, you can tap the three-dot menu next to the person’s name in the sidebar on the web, and click on “Don’t watch.” On mobile, there is a new “Audio only” mode, which turns off all feeds apart from the presenter’s feed. Hopefully, Google rolls out this facility to desktops as well.
The “Audio only” mode is certainly helpful to save data if you are on the move.
Google said that Meet won’t notify others when you switch off their video feeds. Plus, their meeting experience will remain unchanged.
The company said it has already started to roll out the feature and will make it available to the entire base in a few weeks. Thankfully, admins can’t turn off the feature for individuals, so it will be available to users at all times.
Earlier this year, Google introduced support for emoji reactions on Meet calls. In February, the company brought 360-degree virtual backgrounds for Meet on mobile.