New Chromebooks will now have Google Meet installed by default

With Chrome OS’s latest update, Google has announced that its Google Meet app will be preinstalled on all Chromebooks. The announcement is part of the company’s larger push to adapt its operating system for remote meetings.

The new feature shouldn’t make too much of a difference to longtime Chromebook users who already have a preferred video chat platform installed. But for new students receiving a Chromebook for the first time, or other folks who are trying the platform out, it could certainly mean the difference between using Google Meet for meetings and social calls or turning to competitors like Zoom.

Google also says it’s made performance improvements to Google Meet’s experience, including “adapting video calls to different network conditions and adjusting video performance during screen sharing.”

Updating Chrome OS hasn’t installed Google Meet in our recent testing, so this update only appears to apply to new Chromebooks.

Image: Google

The update also includes an updated emoji picker with a search bar (which you can bring up with the shortcut Launcher + Shift + Space), support for eSIM on eSIM-compatible Chromebooks (including the recent Acer Chromebook Spin 513), a new digital magazine for kids and families in the Explore app, and a new collection of wallpapers.