Google Meet will now let users add video backgrounds

Google has allowed Meet users to add custom backgrounds to their video calls since October 2020

Continuing with the ongoing trend of flashy backgrounds during video calls, Google Meet will soon be adding the feature to replace backgrounds with a video.

While you won’t be able to use your own videos as backgrounds, Google will offer three options, to begin with: a classroom, party, and forest, promising further additions later, reported Mashable. Google has allowed Meet users to add custom backgrounds to their video calls since October 2020, but this is the first time they’ve included videos in this option. This new video background feature will arrive in the coming weeks.

It’s yet another feature that’s making the platform look even more similar to its competitor Zoom. Video backgrounds have been available as virtual backgrounds through Zoom for the last year.

Meanwhile, Google is also rolling out some other features for Meet, including the ability to pin yourself as a tile, hide entirely, or pin multiple videos feeds at once to customize what you’re looking at during a meeting.

There’s also a light adjustment feature that will automatically detect if you’re appearing underexposed and enhance the brightness — it’s an update to its already-launched low-light detection mode.

The company is also adding a feature called Data Saver, which as it says limits data usage on mobile during Meet calls, and an AI-powered feature called Autozoom, which zooms in and positions you squarely in front of the camera. As per Mashable, this last feature will only be available for paid Google Workspace subscribers.