Google LLC is planning to add a new, gallerylike view to its Meet videoconferencing tool, following an update that lets people take calls directly from within Gmail.

The updates come at a time when Meet is said to be growing wildly, with families, students and workers all using the service to stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Javier Soltero, Google’s vice president and general manager of G Suite, told Reuters in an interview today that the upcoming gallery view will enable users to display up to 16 participants in a single frame. The update will be pushed out later this month, he said.

In contrast, Zoom’s gallery view allows users to see up to 49 thumbnails of conversation participants, but only if the device’s processor is powerful enough.

Soltero’s interview followed an official announcement by Google that Meet is now integrated with Gmail. It means users can answer or start a call directly from within the Gmail interface, similar to how they might take calls with Hangouts, which is a more consumer-focused videoconferencing app. The feature is currently available for web users and will arrive on mobile later, Google said.

“With more and more people working and learning from home, we want to make it easier for you to connect and keep things moving forward,” Google said in a blog post. “With Meet in Gmail, you can easily start or join a meeting in seconds. Our goal is to help you follow the flow of the day, seamlessly switching between email and video meetings — whichever form of communication you need.”

Another new feature coming to the platform will allow Meet to improve the quality of its videos automatically under dim lighting conditions, Soltero told Reuters. The platform will also be able to filter out background noise during calls when the feature is rolled out later this month.

Meet has suddenly become a lot more popular, adding about 2 million new users a day as demand for communication products surges among businesses and consumers, Soltero said. And Meet isn’t alone, with rival services such as Microsoft Teams, Slack and Zoom all seeing record growth amid the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, just last week, Zoom reported a 2,000% jump in peak daily active users.

Responding to that huge surge in demand, Google last week extended free access to some of Meet’s more advanced features until Sept. 30.

Image: Google