Google Meet hosts can now mute participants, turn their cameras off

Google Meet: Finally, hosts of meetings conducted on Google Meet will soon get the ability to turn off the microphones and camera of participants. The tech giant has announced that now, hosts of a meeting would be able to mute participants and turn off their cameras without the participants having an option of turning them back on. The development has come months after Google gave hosts the ability to mute everyone at one go on the Google Meet using laptop and desktop devices. With this, hosts would be able to ensure that rowdy and noisy participants do not disrupt the meeting continually, something which was not earlier possible since such participants could unmute themselves.

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The feature is called Audio and Video Lock, and it would keep the audio or video of a participant off until the host decided to unlock them. This feature is available for main as well as for breakout rooms.

In the announcement post, Google explained why the feature is important. “This feature gives meeting hosts more control over their meetings by letting them decide when they want to allow different levels of participation from attendees, for example to address disruptive participants,” it said.

The feature would be available on phones running on Android OS M or newer versions, or iOS 12 or newer versions. Moreover, users would need to update their Gmail or Meet apps to the latest updated version. “Participants using versions of the Android and iOS apps that do not support audio and video locks will be removed from the meeting if the host or co-host turns on either of the locks. If they attempt to join a meeting that has either of these locks enabled they will be prompted to update their app or use another device to join the meeting. Turning off audio or video locks will allow these participants to rejoin the meeting,” Google said.

Moreover, any Audio or Video locks, along with chat and present locks, that the host has enabled for the main meeting would be applicable to any breakout rooms that are made for that meeting. On the other hand, any locks that are applied in a breakout room do not apply to other breakout room or the main room.

It must be noted, however, that the lock feature would be off by default, and hosts would need to turn it on during the meeting if they wish to use it.