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Noise cancellation comes to Google Meet on Android and iOS

It can remove unwanted sounds like typing, door closing and construction.

Steve Dent/Engadget

Google Meet has introduced noise cancellation for mobile devices on Android and iOS, matching what it can already do on the desktop. The feature will be useful for folks working from home in a noisy environment who prefer to use Meet on a smartphone.

As with the PC version, the noise reduction filters out any noises that don’t sound like voices. That means it’ll get rid of things like typing, construction noise or closing a door, but it can’t block voices from a TV or other people talking in the room. The feature is turned off by default, so you’ll need to turn it on if you want to use it, but there are certain circumstances where you may not want it. “If non-speech is an important part of your call, like playing musical instruments, turn off noise reduction,” Google advises.

The new feature is part of a series of big changes Google is making in order to keep up with its chief rival, Zoom. On desktop, it recently added low-light mode, tiled layouts, backgrounds and background blur. Noise cancellation on mobile will be available in the coming days for G Suite Enterprise and G Suite Enterprise for Education users, but not other versions including G Suite Basic, G Suite Business and G Suite for Education.