Google has improved its video conferencing platform Meet to be able to compete with other platforms. One new feature is that users can now see 16 people on their screen. Previously, there were only four people on their screen at one time. Meet's new gallery view comes at a time when more people around the world are using video conferencing services. Many people are speaking to family and friends during lockdown; companies are having meetings online; and schools and universities changed from classroom teaching to online teaching.
Google said Meet would help millions around the world in lockdown. It wrote: "Remote work has become increasingly necessary for public safety and wellbeing - which makes staying connected, even while we're apart, more important than ever." Rapidly growing numbers of people are using Meet. Google says they now have the features they need "to share and be productive". Google will introduce more features like blocking out background noise from keystrokes when people type. Users will also be able to improve video quality if the lighting in their room is not good enough.