Summary
- A new chip in the Google Phone app allows seamless switching to Google Meet video calls during phone conversation.
- The feature is currently available on a few phones only, and it may take time to roll out widely.
- If the other party doesn’t use Meet, an option to invite them will appear.
Sometimes, it’s much nicer to actually see who you’re talking to when you’re on the phone with someone. You may also just want to show the other party something that you see right now. That’s where a new chip in the Google Phone app comes in, which lets you seamlessly switch to a Google Meet call — if the other party has Meet, that is.
For some people, a new Video call chip has started appearing when they’re in a regular phone call via the Google Phone app. It sits right above the rest of the control buttons like keypad, mute, speaker selection, and more. Tapping the button immediately starts a video phone call with the other person on Google Meet, ringing their phone while the voice call is still active. This makes switching as seamless as it can be.
If the other party doesn’t have Meet, you’re taken to a screen telling you to “Invite this person to use Meet calling so that you can video chat,” along with a big button to start composing a message.
It may take some time until the video call chip rolls out to everyone
The option is available for some people only for now
We can see the functionality on version 125.0.613053162-publicbeta-pixel2023 while our tipster confirmed that it’s also available on 124.0.608164421-publicbeta. So far, we have only seen this behavior on Pixel phones, but given that the Google Phone app is available for other phones, too, it’s possible that the option is rolling out to more devices. Since the feature is available on different versions of the Phone app, it’s likely a server-side change that isn’t dependent on a specific version of the app. Not everyone is seeing this new behavior just yet, so it might take some time until it rolls out widely.
Long before Duo was folded into Meet, it was already possible to start a Duo/Meet video call right from the phone app. To do so, you just need to tap a contact and select the video call option rather than the default voice button. The new video call chip is easier to discover, and makes it simple to switch to video when the need arises, rather than having to decide which form of communication is the most appropriate or convenient before the call starts.
Thanks: Prajjwal P.
