Google integrated Meet into its Gmail web app a few weeks ago. Now it Meet is finally coming to the Gmail app on Android and iOS.
What this means is that you now don’t need to install the standalone Google Meet app. And it also makes it much easier to start a Meet video call from Gmail, instead of needing to open a separate app to do so.
This is the latest step in making Meet more mainstream
Google has had to make its Meet videoconferencing software a lot more mainstream, due to the pandemic. Where just about everyone is relying on video calls to talk to their loved ones, friends and even their coworkers. And of course, Google wants to be a part of that.
Obviously, that’s something that Google has wanted all along, but with Hangouts being killed off at some point in 2020, now is a good time to make Meet ready for the masses.
Google Meet was only made available for free to everyone starting in April. Before this, it was only available to G Suite customers, as it was part of its enterprise suite of services. But with the pandemic, Google pretty much had to make it free to everyone. Since then, Google wasted no time in integrating it into Gmail. Starting with bringing it to Gmail on the web and now in the Android and iOS apps.
Google wants Meet to go head-to-head with Zoom
During the pandemic, Zoom has really picked up steam. Becoming the default video calling app out there. In fact, much like how many people say “let me Google that” instead of searching for it, many say “let me jump on this Zoom call” instead of a video call. Zoom has become synonymous with video calls during this pandemic. And Google, wants a piece of that pie.
Zoom has had issues though, even though it has gained a ton of customers during the past three months. There have been a handful of security issues that have shown up in Zoom. As well as people finding out that Zoom calls are routed through China. Which is not okay with most people, mostly because China likes to spy on everyone – even its own citizens.
Adding Google Meet to Gmail on Android is definitely going to help Google get there. And be able to compete with Zoom. Especially since it is being integrated into so many of Google’s services. But that doesn’t mean it’ll stick around. Hangouts was once integrated into just about everything, and it’s going away by the end of the year.