Google is asserting an entire bunch of Workspace updates supposed to enhance digital collaboration. But as an enormous fan of emoji, I’ve to say the brand new function I’m most enthusiastic about is in-meeting emoji reactions in Google Meet.

With these reactions, you’ll be capable of drop emoji like a coronary heart or a thumbs-up to indicate the way you’re feeling throughout a gathering. The emoji will present up in video tiles or in an inventory that floats up on the facet of your display screen. Here’s a GIF from Google that provides an concept of what to anticipate:

Zoom has an identical function that I discover actually helpful. It’s an incredible software to point how I’m feeling about one thing with out having to unmute and disrupt a complete assembly, and I feel they’ll be useful in Meet as effectively. Google says these in-meeting reactions will roll out in April.

Google can also be including a picture-in-picture mode to Meet, which might be a helpful function to allow you to see who’s talking even whenever you aren’t within the energetic Meet tab. This will likely be out there beginning in April whenever you’re utilizing Meet within the Chrome browser.

If you wish to see individuals extra simply when you’re engaged on a Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide, you’ll quickly be capable of begin or deliver a Meet name to a type of functions, the place you’ll see assembly members proper subsequent to what you’re engaged on. This function will likely be out there within the coming weeks. And should you’ve needed the flexibility to livestream Meet calls to YouTube, that will likely be arriving within the coming months for Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Teaching & Learning Upgrade Workspace prospects.

Google can also be planning so as to add non-obligatory end-to-end encryption for Meet conversations later this 12 months for all Workspace prospects. Client-side encryption will likely be out there in May for Business Plus, Enterprise Plus, and Education Plus prospects.

Meet isn’t the one product getting some enhancements; Google is introducing some updates to Spaces, its Slack-like collaboration product, too. One possible welcome function is in-line threading, which can allow you to cut up off conversations into their very own thread with out clogging up a most important channel. In-line threading will likely be out there within the coming weeks. (Discord just lately added threads as effectively.) And Google is growing Spaces staff dimension limits to eight,000 individuals. By the tip of this 12 months, that most will likely be 25,000 individuals.

You can learn extra about Google’s bulletins in this blog post.