Google Meet is getting a variety of much-needed updates to make the platform's hand-raise feature work more effectively.

The changes, which are fully outlined in the update log from Google (found by 9to5Google), may seem like minor additions on the surface, but are very welcome all the same, as remote working is still a reality for many people. Essentially, they're about making the ability to raise hands "easier to notice and deal with" - if it's to take Microsoft Teams and Zoom, Meet is most definitely a necessary upgrade.

The most immediately obvious aspect of this update is the "updated and improved visual icons and animations" that play every time a user raises their hand. Of course, while these animations are quite flashy, they do little to actually improve functionality. Thankfully, this is not the only update.

Some of the slightly more useful additions in this update include the fact that the tile for users raising their hands has been moved to a more visible location in the grid view, making it less likely that speakers will miss a hand in the air. In addition, participants are now notified audibly when they raise their hand first, and an alert is now displayed showing the number of hands raised and the order in which they were raised first.

Finally, "hands are automatically lowered after a participant has spoken." This would be a very useful feature for forgetful colleagues who spend the entire meeting with their hands raised after failing to lower them.

All of these features are enabled by default and are currently being rolled out to Google Workspace users. Google has stated that these features will not be available to users with G Suite Basic or personal Google accounts. Instead, they appear to be designed primarily for users who use WorkSpace as part of a larger organization.

These changes were made in response to Google's elimination of the need to pay to access Google Workspace earlier this month; Google appears to be aggressively targeting competing services like Zoom and Teams, so it will be even easier to use in the future We expect updates to be made.