Google Meet starts to roll out this important new feature – Times of India

Google has started to roll out a new feature on its video communication platform Meet that allows the host to turn off the microphone and video of selected participants. The participants can’t turn back on the tools until they are allowed to do so by the host. If you don’t have the iOS or Android version of the Meet app that supports the new feature, you will automatically be removed from the call once the host uses the feature. If you try to join such a call, you will be prompted to update the application first.
Earlier this year, the company released a tool where the host was able to mute every participant in the call at once. Apart from this, the tech giant has also started to roll out live translated captions feature support for multiple languages. According to the company, this feature can help participants communicate better by translating a spoken language to captions in another language. Live translated captions are initially available in beta and support English meetings translated to Spanish, French, Portuguese and German. The feature is available in meetings organised by Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Teaching & Learning Upgrade users.
Along with live translated captions, the company also rolled out animated video background feature for Google Meet users on Android. Earlier, the feature was only available for Google Meet users on iOS and desktop. The feature allows users to replace the background with six Google made videos such as a classroom, a party, a beach and more.
The company claims that custom backgrounds can help you show more of your personality, as well to help hide your surroundings to maintain privacy. Although most Android smartphones are eligible for the update, it is accessible to Google Workspace, G Suite Basic and Business customers.