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Google Duo and Google Meet have been merged for nearly a week now. Google Duo has been renamed as 'Google Meet' and the Google Meet app has been renamed as 'Google Meet (Original)'. Furthermore, the original Google Meet app now has a green icon to help users distinguish it.
Initial speculations say that Google is trying to merge its professional and personal video calling apps into one. Google has also suggested using the new Meet app for a better combined video call and meeting experience. However, it is still quite confusing for many users.
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The new Meet app carries the best features of both apps. The 2022.07.23 beta version of the new Google Duo app first hinted that some exciting features might be coming to the app. Earlier this year in February, the live-sharing feature was introduced on Google Duo as a Samsung device exclusive.
But now in August, the merged app is receiving the same feature as users can now enjoy videos, songs, or games together in lengthy meeting sessions.
Google Meet users can now stream YouTube, Spotify, and play games, here's how
Google Meet users can now stream videos from YouTube, songs from Spotify, manage tasks using GQueues, and play games like Heads Up!, UNO! Mobile, and Kahoot! during a meeting. This new feature can have two to five participants involved in any shared activity.
How to use these all new features
To stream YouTube, Spotify, play games, or use any other newly added features, users have to follow the steps mentioned below:
- Update the Meet app to the latest version.
- Go to the three dots menu.
- Go to the Activities tabs (where the Q&A and Poll options are available).
- From that point, they can start any desired shared activity just by selecting the option. Icons of all the available shared activities will be shown. For example, users have to press the UNO! Mobile icon if they want to start the game.
However, it should be mentioned that Spotify is currently only allowing its Premium users to use this group session feature, which is also the same for Samsung device users. The group session feature is quite similar to Apple's SharePlay, although SharePlay doesn't allow users to stream from either YouTube or Spotify.
SharePlay currently supports a large number of apps, like Apple TV+, TikTok, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, NBA, Twitch, TikTok, MasterClass, ESPN+, Paramount+, Pluto TV, Apple Fitness+, and Apple Music. The new Google Meet is also expected to spread its domain of supported apps in the future.
Speaking about the future of the new Meet app, Google stated:
“We will continue to invest in bringing more features to Google Meet to help people to connect, collaborate and share experiences on any device, at home, at school and at work.”
Features like scheduled recurring meetings, virtual backgrounds, and in-meeting chats have also come to the new Meet app. The new update will be available to all mobile and tablet devices by the end of August. Later on, Google is expected to bring this change to other platforms as well.
