Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
Tl; Dream
- Google created companion mode for Meet to offer another screen for people in hybrid calls.
- Originally available for computers, last year, Google expanded access to Android and iOS.
- Today, companion mode receives an update to optimize it for tablets and folding.
Finding yourself stuck in a meeting can be a real slog, and it is a situation that is made, the worse when you feel that you are not specially seen, or able to interact with other participants in a meaningful way. Earlier this decade is the pandemic supercharged development of remote access tools for companies everywhere, and it included Google meets. One feature born of that time is Meet’s Companion Mode, and today we learn about an overgraded upgrade for it when it comes to Android tablets and folding.
In case you are not already known, Google Launched companion mode for meeting back in 2022. Provided as a second-screen for hybrid meetings, Wild Follow-up Mode was shown in a meeting as part of a group-for example, if your office team gathered in a conference room to interact with external colleagues you also had access to meet on a personal portable PC. On the secondary companion mode view, you can do things like React with emoji, participate in polls, follow the chat or even share your screen – while your video and sound are handled by another device.
Last year, Google Companion Mode expanded to support Android and iOS, and today Google announce that it is finally optimized for the largest screens on these platforms: tablets and folding.
Functionally, this works just as companion mode on phones, but taking advantage of the tool on a screen with tablets sounds like it hits a nice balance between offering the convenience of these mobile devices without needing most of a full laptop. In fact, Google speaks explicitly about use cases where your meeting place can be a little more cramped than usual.
A particularly practical feature seems to be how to use companion mode in shared screen, and continue to interact with the ongoing meeting while finding you free to investigate something in your browser.
Support starts to roll out today and can take a few weeks to hit all devices – just make sure your meeting and Gmail apps are updated. And although this is definitely a feature designed with the workplace in mind, the companion mode also supports your personal Google account, so everyone is free to try.