What you need to know
- Google Meet has rolled out a new feature that improves your visibility during a video call.
- The new auto-framing feature automatically crops your video to keep you in the center of the frame.
- Google has begun to roll out the new feature to users, though it must be enabled manually.
Google Meet has added a new feature that helps you center yourself in a frame during a call, ensuring that you are properly visible to all call participants. The new capability is rolling out now, and it's expected to be available to everyone by the second week of November.
The feature was unveiled at the Google Cloud Next ‘22 event last week along with the ability to transcribe calls into text and save it in Google Docs. In a blog post, Google notes that it is designed to "automatically frame your video before joining a meeting" to ensure optimal visibility to everyone in a call.
If you've ever used an Apple device, you'll recognize the new feature because it takes a page from the company's Center Stage feature, which keeps you in the frame as you move around during a FaceTime call, for example. It is also available on compatible video calling apps.
However, auto-framing on Google's video conference software occurs only once. This means that if you change positions later, you may appear off-center on your camera because, unlike Apple's Center Stage, Meet's version will not dynamically adjust to your movement.
"The automatic framing happens only once, so there are no motion distractions that can divert attention from the content of the meeting," Google explained. "You can manually reframe the video at any time from the settings."
The auto framing feature is not enabled by default, though, so you'll have to manually turn on this capability, assuming it's live on your subscription tier. Google is rolling out the feature to all Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Education Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Workspace Individual tiers with compatible devices. If your tier is not on the list, you're out of luck.
Google One subscribers with 2TB of storage space or more can also use the feature on an eligible device.
