Emoji reactions are finally coming to Google Meet. Some, however, will still have to wait a while.
A long time ago, in February 2021 to be exact, Google announced that it was adding reaction emojis to Google Meet. The function will finally appear, but not everywhere and not immediately, of course. In a recently published blog post, Mountain View says the feature has rolled out to the web and iOS. On Android it will be “soon”.
Emoji reactions are finally coming to Google Meet
To be more specific, the full rollout began on January 11 for users with a personal Google account. It will start on January 16th or 23rd, depending on whether your Google Workspace is included in the Rapid Release or Scheduled Release list.
In any case, when you get it, you will see a new menu in the menu bar at the bottom of the screen with an emoji icon. Once you have selected and clicked/tapped an emoji, it will appear on the left side of the screen.
However, some will still have to wait a while.
Although this feature may seem very minor, it is actually very useful. If you use Google Meet fairly regularly, you’ve probably had the experience of expressing your agreement, disagreement, or whatever during a Google Meet meeting without interrupting the speaker with your voice or text message.
Along with the announcement of emoji reactions, Mountain View has also changed the way users start a group conversation on Google Chat. The “Start a group chat”option disappears. Instead, just create a conversation with multiple recipients by clicking New Conversation, entering their names, and selecting them as participants. Simple, sure, but a much more efficient and smooth process.