Google Meet Starts Getting 49-Person Grid View, Background Blur Feature

Google Meet will now allow users to see up to 49 people simultaneously, and the users can also blur their backgrounds during a video call, the company’s G Suite team has announced. The rapid release of both the updates have started rolling out, and the scheduled release will be starting in the coming weeks.

The Background Blur feature is currently available on Chrome browser on Windows and Mac. These features will be available to all G Suite customers and users with personal Google Accounts.

Google Meet 49 people grid

Users will now be able to see up to 49 people at the same time in the auto and tiled layout options in Google Meet. Google has also added a feature that allows the users to see themselves as a tile on the call. In case you choose to add yourself in the grid, hover over your thumbnail in the top right corner and add yourself. To remove yourself from the grid, follow the same steps. These changes are only visible to the user.

Google says that this feature is only available in Meet on the Web. By default, the maximum number of tiles is 9, and in tiled layouts, it is 16. Users will be allowed to increase or decrease the number of tiles with the help of a slider. The slider adjustments are specific to each meeting. The feature will be OFF by default, and users can go to Settings > Change Layout to adjust them.

Google Meet background Blur

If you have an untidy background while you are on a video call, Background Blur featurecan be a lifesaver. When turned on, Meet will intelligently separate the users from the background by blurring the surroundings. Google recently launched a feature that filters out disruptive background noise in Meet. Both these features work in tandem to deliver a noise-free video call experience.

According to the company, the Google Meet Background Blur does not require an extension to work. Currently, it is supported on the Chrome browser on Windows and Mac devices. The company will soon roll out the feature to ChromeOS and Meet mobile apps. You can also cast your meetings to a TV.