Google Meet to add emoji reacts so you can heart your friends and coworkers

Google Meet is about to get a little more lively.

On Wednesday, the company said it's adding several new features to its video conferencing software, mostly focusing on safety and engagement in online classes.

Perhaps the most noticeable will be support for emoji reacts, which are coming "later this year." To express yourself with an emoji, users will be able to click on the "Raise hand" icon and then choose a reaction. They'll also be able to pick emoji skin tones from a palette on the left and find the one that best represents them.

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Credit: google

Should the reactions become cumbersome, Meet admin will have the ability to restrict when emoji can and cannot be used.

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Other upcoming features include better admin controls, such as the ability to mute all participants at once, and control when individual participants can unmute themselves. They'll also be able to end meetings for all participants (including breakout rooms). Some essential moderation controls, including controlling who can join a meeting or sharing your screen, are coming to admins on tablets and mobile phones as well.

Google also says it will optimize Meet to work better on low bandwidth connections. And for those who cannot attend an online class, teachers will be able to share transcripts of meetings with students. Both features are rolling out "over the next few months."

Finally, Google says Meet should now be working better on Chromebooks. The company says it has made optimizations to audio, video, reliability, and multitasking performance.