17+ Pros and Cons of Google Meet App (Explained)

Google Meet, formerly known as Hangouts Meet, is mainly a video-communication service developed by Google. It was initially released in 2017 and can be run on Android, IOS and across web platforms.

If you have a Google Account, you can create video meetings and can invite up to 100 participants.

Meets for up to 60 minutes are for free, if your time limit exceeds 60, you will need to pay according to the plans.

Also, for any additional features, such as international dial-in numbers, live streaming, administrative controls, and meeting recordings, you can choose and see the plans and their respective pricings accordingly.

Benefits of using Google Meet	The Drawbacks of using Google Meet
Have collaborated tools	Sharing screen limit in a meet is only 1
Instant messaging	No waiting room available for individuals
Automated recording option available	The privacy of the user can be improved.
Integration with all other Google apps	Non-visibility of the drop-down menu while sharing window
Works in all devices	‘All Day’ meeting schedule availability is not present.

Table of Contents

Advantages of Google Meet

Designed with particular business needs:

Google Meet particularly has a very easy-to-use interface, specifically for business-minded people.

It allows a maximum of 100 participants at a time which is an adequate amount for any business meetings, integrated with other Google suite applications such as Google Calendar, allowing people to whenever easily create and drop in and out of their meetings, with the help of only a link.

With easy accessibility for screen sharing, high audio quality etc. it is a perfect solution to carry long-distance video conferences from any part across the world.

Requires no plugins or desktop applications:

Google Meet does not require an application either on Android or IOS. Only if run on computers or laptops, you need to start your meet at meet.google.com via any browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari or Microsoft Edge.

You just need to press ‘allow’ when Google Meet asks for your access to your microphone and camera, and you are automatically ready to join a meeting.

Easy to add people and forbid unwanted guests:

Many other applications contain certain privacy limits to add only your knowns in the meeting with putting specific codes or passwords. However, Google Meet takes one step forward and meets with another approach to respect the privacy of the participants.

As after the meeting URL is generated and you grant the permission to add new members, rather than providing them with the passwords, Google Meet prefer this method for two reasons:

Keeping unwanted guests off bay: As the meetings occupants indeed admit or deny the entry to the newcomers joining the meet, if the host does not recognize the name of the Google Account linked with the Google Meet Account, the host can himself hit the deny option, to keep them out.
Easy to add people: Now, likewise on the other hand, if you are inviting a new member in your meeting, anyone in the call can permit them to join with ease.

Easy screen sharing UI to avoid waiting:

Google Meet is praised mostly for its lower learning curve, like, as soon as the video call opens up, rather than entering into a new window or page, Google Meet stays in the same tab.

But when you start your call from or at times and open in a new tab of the same window, this happens mainly when you are opening a meet URL any other person may have sent you.

Sharing Screen is Easy:

Google Meet makes screen sharing quite simple, as you just need to tap on ‘present now’ and select a whole screen or just a window.

Now, to end your meet, you need to either click on the ‘stop’ button present in the middle of the Meet window or simply click on the ‘stop’ button present on the Google Meet notification which is present all along with the meet.

Quick Actions:

The platform lays your controls very quickly and sensibly out in front of you. It is a much more elegant layout, whereas the text labels present on the main rules are relatively larger and easier to read.

No time boundaries until September due to Covid lockdowns:

Due to the imposed lockdowns across the world, people are working, attending meetings online. Therefore, until September, Google Meet will not have any time limits for any appointments.

Although, the free time limit without the pay is till 60 minutes which is a healthy and longer minute provided by any other app.

Secure and trustworthy service:

Google Meet believes and is designed to secure your day as well as work. It is mainly made for businesses that usually deal with sensitive work such as in finance, healthcare, and more, it believes in respecting the privacy of their users, making them feel secure and comfortable.

Google Meet certainly has encryption of the videos and recordings and also debars any anonymous users from entering the calls.

Disadvantages of Google Meet

Interoperability service users are forbidden to enter:

As Google Meet is known for its security and stability, it has undoubtedly denied giving allowance to enter in any meeting via any interoperability services such as Pexip etc. Participants connecting via these services are usually considered to be anonymous users.

They are automatically blocked from joining the call session, which is quite disturbing as ample people use such services and have been facing problems.

Outside the domain users are forbidden to enter:

Mainly for educational users, only the creator or host of the meeting is allowed to approve or deny the requests to join a meeting from participants, who are outside of their domain.

Also, if the creator of the conference is not available on the call, and the request is made at that time, the external participant will not be able to join.

Browser freezing issues:

There have been ample complaints registered by the users, that while sharing the screen, the browser certainly stops working and the user has to start all overall, which is quite time-consuming.

At times, if your desktop uses incompatible video drivers or video adapters, Google Meet starts causing browser or loading issues.

Blank presentation issues:

At times, when you share your screen or anyone shares a screen with you using Microsoft Powerpoint or Keynote presentations and starts with a slide show, it takes a lot of time to load, and at times the screen is widely blank to all the viewers who may help annoying to the others, to make them wait.

Privacy is an Issue:

All this adds to Google’s robust account protections which make Google Meet a much more secure service.

Still, there have been specific complaints regarding privacy concerns, and the app has given their surety to upgrade their privacy rules with great security-minded folks making each call safe and secured.