The Android and iOS apps of Google Meet are getting a new update that will enable it to intelligently filter out background noise. What that means in essence is that the app will now will automatically remove distracting from your phone’s audio input while still letting your voice through. The feature was originally rolled out on the web back in January, and is now also available on mobile following persistent requests from users.
The noise-filtering feature started rolling out on Monday and will be available for every eligible user over the next three days. It is available for all G Suite Enterprise and G Suite Enterprise for Education customers, but not to G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G Suite for Education, and G Suite for Nonprofits.
In an official blog post about the new feature, Google said it uses Cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) to filter out distracting noise from the background. Following the update, users can expect the system to filter out background noise like keyboard typing, doors opening and closing, as well as outdoor construction, while still letting the caller’s voice through.
The feature will be ‘Off’ by default and users will have to switch it on manually if they want. To do that, users can tap on the screen during a video call and then choose the ‘three dots’ menu. From there, they’ll need to go into ‘Settings’ by tapping on the lever icon and select ‘Noise Cancellation’ from the available options. Do note that Google recommends that you leave it disabled if “non-speech is an important part of your call, like playing musical instruments”.
