Although Google Meet is a very useful video calling application often used in the professional field, there is no need to remember the times of COVID to see that it obviously also works for personal calls, where perhaps we use apps like WhatsApp more. However, Google wants to further enhance its use and already knows how to do it: allowing switch from voice call to video call with a single touch.
If you have an iPhone, this will sound familiar, as FaceTime is included within the phone application, meaning you can easily, intuitively and quickly switch to a video call at the touch of a button. That is precisely the experience that Google is looking for with the Integration of video calls in the phone application.
From voice call to video call in one touch
This new function appears in the simplest form, with a ‘Video call’ button with the usual camera icon which has already started appearing in regular voice calls to some people in the Google Phone app. This feature is in beta testing and only appears for a certain number of Pixel phones, such as reports Android Authority.
So, if we are on a standard voice call and we touch that button with the camera, a Google Meet call will start with that person you’re talking to, ringing their phone while the voice call is still active. If the person receiving the call does not have the Google Meet app installed, instead of that button an invitation will appear to download and use the service.
The fact that the function is in the testing phase means that you will not see it on your Android phone, but that Google is working on it and that if everything goes well, it will be a matter of time to see it on other devices in the ecosystem. Because also The development of this button has a strategic function: that users choose to use the native Android video calling app as an alternative and to the detriment of third-party applications so popular with WhatsApp, which would mean a change in habits.
Cover | Iván Linares for Xataka Móvil
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