Google Meet begins rolling out real-time emoji reactions to make calls more fun and expressive

While a standard feature in apps like Facebook Messenger, Google Messages, and more, real-time emoji reactions have not appeared in Google Meet yet, even though they were announced last year. As with most things the company reveals, Google has taken its time putting the final touches on this tool, but at long last, it’s rolling out now!

In a Google Workspace updates blog post today, Google states that you will now be able to react using a set of emoji from the bottom of an active Meet call on the Web, iOS, and even Meet hardware devices. Support for Android is coming later. I’m not really sure why the platform Google has helped pioneer and has built much of its career around is always last to receive things, but hey.

As you can see, clicking the small smiley face icon will pop out a heart, thumbs up, celebrate, clap, cry, wow, think, sad, and thumbs down emotions for use to relay immediate feedback to the host or speaker. These are meant to make it easier to express yourself without interrupting the discussion. If many listeners react simultaneously, a burst of emoji will appear on the screen.

You can also change the skin tone of your emoji, and that tone will then be applied to all reactions you send so long as it’s relevant. If nothing else, I would be more distracted as the speaker as I try to decipher the majority reaction to something I say, but that’s just me. Still, it’s about time that Google Meet is fun and approachable in the way that other platforms have been for years.

If you have a Rapid Release domain, you can expect to see emoji reactions available to you and your colleagues between January 16 and 19th. Anyone with a Scheduled release domain will have to wait an extra week with the same three-day rollout period, and personal Google Accounts should already have them or see them over the next few days. Let me know if you’ll be turning these off for professionalism, or if your work environment is generally open to more fun and reactive tools.