Google Meet Updates: Simplified Access Controls, Quick Actions, Enhanced Picture-in-Picture Tools, Presenting Google Slides

Simplified Access Controls

The first Google Meet update is important for users to know about: Simplified access controls will replace the existing Quick access meeting settings.

Google has made the decision to replace the Quick access settings with what they believe is a more intuitive and explicit set of controls for meeting organizers and hosts that they are calling Simplified access controls. 

From a Google Calendar invite or Google Meet itself, meeting organizers will now be able to pick from the following three levels of access:

• Open:
• Anyone with a meeting link will be able to join your meetings.
• No one will have to ask to join.
• Anyone can dial in.
• Trusted:
• Anyone within the meeting hosts’ organization will be able to join without having to ask to join (AKA knocking).
• Anyone outside the organization but invited via a Google Calendar event, or anyone invited from within the meeting, will also be able to join without having to ask to join.
• Anyone can dial in.
• Everybody else will have to ask to join.
• Restricted:
• Only someone who is invited via a Google Calendar event or someone invited from within the meeting by a host will be able to join.
• Everyone else will have to ask to join, including participants inside a host’s organization who aren’t included on the invite, and those dialing in.

Additionally, meeting hosts can configure whether guests can join the meeting before hosts.

When you use Google Meet with your school account, by default:

• All your new meetings will be set to TRUSTED and your guests will be able to join before you.
• Any meetings created via Google Classroom will be set to RESTRICTED and your guests won’t be able to join before you.
• Any Existing Meetings with Quick Access “OFF”, meetings will default to RESTRICTED and your guests won’t be able to join before you.
• Any Existing Meetings with Quick Access “ON”, Meetings will default to TRUSTED and your guests will be able to join before you.

Quick Actions

By hovering the mouse on top of your own video feed, you can access video effects such as: 

• immersive backgrounds or fun filters.
• reframing to improve your visibility.
• turning off the video feed from other participants so you can focus on the presenter.

Enhanced Picture-in-Picture Tools

Directly from the picture-in-picture window, you can now:

• Raise your hand
• Use in meeting chat
• Turn captions on and off
• More effectively resize the picture-in-picture view
• Access flexible layouts

Presenting Google Slides in Google Meet

Presenting Google Slides in Google Meet is easier than ever with these new tools:

• presenting Google Slides directly in Google Meet
• viewing your speaker notes within Meet
• allowing multiple people to present together in Meet.

As the primary presenter, you can assign participants to co-present Slides with you.

• To start a presentation, select “present this tab” in Meet > “start slideshow”.
• To add a co-presenter, select "Add co-presenter" in the people panel drop down menus.

As a co-presenter, you will:

• be notified that the primary presenter assigned you as a co-presenter.
• get control over the Slides presentation, allowing you to navigate the deck for everyone in the meeting.
• see the audience, presentation, and Slides controls in one window.
• be able to start and stop media within the presentation