If you are looking for a free group video call service that allows up to 100 participants and is safe, you are in luck. Google has just announced that starting today, Google Meet will be free for anyone using a Google account.

Until now, Google Meet was a premium service that was used only in business and education with G Suite accounts, but the company has decided to open the service from May 4. They justify the date by claiming that they want the experience to be safe and reliable from the start. The good thing is that from that moment, you can start calls from Gmail.

The movement by Google is great news for millions of people who want to make quality group video calls these days, and is a great alternative to other services that are widely used these days, such as Skype, Jitsi Meet or Zoom. From some of these applications, Google has been borrowing ideas such as the grid view or the cancellation of environmental noise. On mobile, for example, Google Meet will receive a feature that will make images in low light look better.

One of the things Google Meet stands out the most, like Hangouts, is in image quality. It is something that we could see from the hands of our Xataka colleagues, although this also implies better data consumption. However, what can attract more users in the face of the image crisis that Zoom has gone through due to doubts about its security is that it is Google who guarantees the security and privacy of calls for up to 100 participants. Video calls are limited to 60 minutes on the free plan, but until September there will be no time limit.

Google Meet video calls will have no time limit until September 30

In that sense, Google reminds us that all data is encrypted in transit between the client and Google in browsers and mobile applications.. Meet recordings stored on Google Drive are also encrypted by default. To avoid problems such as zoombombings, they will not be able to participate in the so-called anonymous users, and the hosts will have full capacities to admit participants.

Unlike services like Jitsi Meet, the pity is that Google Meet does not allow to make group video calls without installing an application on the mobile, so many users may have some more problem getting to connect and start a conversation.

ShareGoogle Meet is now free for everyone: group video calls of up to 100 participants, with encryption and noise cancellation

Read the rest here:

Group video calls of up to 100 participants, with encryption and noise cancellation - Explica