Use add-ons with Google Meet

On your computer or Android device, you can use Google Meet add-ons to enhance collaboration, productivity, and the overall experience of your meetings.

Tip: For Meet users who have a Workspace Admin, your admin may pre-install or restrict the usage of certain Add-ons for you. Learn how Admins can control your Add-ons experience.

All users will find pre-installed 1P apps from Google by default on their device.

Eligibility

You can’t use add-ons if:

Your Workspace Admin has blocked the add-on.
You use Meet through a Family Link account.
Your meeting host has assigned you a View only role.
You're not signed in with a Google Account.
You're under the age of consent in your country or region.
You are in a Client Side Encrypted meeting or attending a Live Stream event.

About third-party Add-ons

Important: To use add-ons within Google Meet on Android, make sure to use the updated Meet app and not on the Meet (original) app . Additionally:

If you are using Meet with an Enterprise or Edu account: Add-ons are available for all Meetings (regardless of the number of meeting participants) and Meet Calls with up to two participants.
If you are using Meet with a personal account: Add-ons are available for all Meetings (regardless of the number of meeting participants). Add-ons are currently not available for Meet Calls.

Important: Meetings and Meet Calls are slightly different. Learn here about the difference between Meetings and Meet calls.

Tip: All add-ons don’t work across every platform.

When you’re on an unsupported platform, you’ll get this pop-notification: “Can’t join the activity.”
If you have an add-on installed on desktop that doesn’t currently work on a mobile device, it’ll be grayed out in the activities panel and listed as an unavailable add-on.

Install third-party add-ons within Google Meet

Using third party add-ons with Google Meet requires two main actions:

Installing the add-on from the Workspace Marketplace

Installing the add-on app from the Google Play Store

The steps for taking these two actions are as follows:

Tap the screen so that call controls appear Tap More controls Tap Activities .
In the “Activities” tab, you’ll see a list of featured add-ons which you can install Tap on the icon of the add-on you want to install From the new screen, tap Install the add-on.
- Tip: If the add-on you want to use isn’t listed as a featured add-on then:
1. At the bottom of the Activities tab Tap on +.
2. Search for the add-on you want to use.
You’ll be taken to the add-on’s Workspace Marketplace listing in your mobile web browser At the top right of the listing page, tap Install.
You’ll then be taken to a new screen to select a Google account to continue downloading the add-on Tap on the Google account with which you joined the meeting.
From the new screen you will be required to Sign in to the add-on via the Google Account you selected Tap Continue.
You'll then be taken to a screen where you will have to provide the add-on access to your Google Account. Scroll through the page to review the various permissions being granted At the bottom, Tap Allow.
You'll notice that the add-on has been installed Tap Done.
- Important: You've completed the first main action - installing the add-on from the Workspace Marketplace. Continue to complete the second action - downloading the add-on app from the Play Store. If you already have the add-on app installed then you can skip the steps below.
Re-open the Meet app Tap the screen so that call controls appear Tap More controls Tap Activities .
Tap on the Add-on you were installing (or search for the add-on again from the Marketplace) Tap Install the app.
You’ll be directed to the add-ons Play Store page Tap Install. Once installed, you’ll be able to use the third party add-on for collaboration within Google Meet.

Use other Google products as Add-ons within Google Meet

You can use certain Google products such as YouTube as Add-ons within Google Meet to enhance the overall experience of your meetings.

Google products that are available as add-ons are built into the Meet app. To use them within Google Meet you'll need to Install the Google app from the Play Store (if it’s not pre-installed).

To Install the Google app from the Play Store (if it’s not pre-installed):

In the Meet app, tap the screen so that call controls appear.
Tap More controls Tap Activities .
In the Activities tab, you’ll notice a list of Google products under the “Google” section Tap the particular Google product you want to collaborate with Tap Install.
You’ll be directed to the Google Play Store page Tap Install.
Once Installed, go back to the Meet app to start using the Google add-on for collaboration with other meeting attendees

Tip: Once you start an activity with a Google add-on, you may be asked to read and accept the Terms of Service of the particular Google app. Follow the on-screen instructions if prompted. You'll only be required to accept the Terms of Service once.

For Meeting Hosts

Start an activity with an add-on

Important: Make sure the add-on is installed and available (refer the sections above)

In the Meet app, tap the screen so that call controls appear.
Tap More controls Tap Activities .
From the Activities tab Tap on the add-on you want to collaborate with From the new screen tap Open app.
Depending on the add-on app you open, select the content/select the video you want to share. Once you select the content/video to share you'll notice an on-screen prompt to Start a Meet Activity Tap Start.
Once the activity begins, other meeting participants will be able to join the activity with you

Important: Previously, some Google Meet users might have used the Meet app to play games or co-watch videos. These experiences were pre-built into the Meet app and didn’t require any additional installation. These experiences will continue to be available but will now require installing them as add-ons (refer steps to install add-ons above). Keep in mind that not all experiences will move over right away.

End an activity

From the blue banner on top of your screen Tap End.
You will notice an on-screen pop-up Tap End activity.

Important: If a meeting host leaves the meeting, the activity automatically ends for all the participants.

For Meeting Participants

Join an activity with an add-on

Joining an activity when you already have the add-on installed

Join the meeting.
At the top of your screen, you’ll notice a blue banner Tap Join.

Joining an activity when you don’t have the add-on installed

Join the meeting.
At the top of your screen, you’ll notice a blue banner with the name of the add-on currently being used Tap Get the app or Get the add-on (this will depend on the kind of add-on a host has started an activity with).
If it’s a third party add-on: Refer to the "Install third party add-ons within Google Meet" section above to complete the installation process.
1. Once installed, come back to the Meet app.
2. From the blue banner at the top of the Meet screen tap Join.
If it’s a Google product add-on: Refer to the "Use other Google products as Add-ons within Google Meet" section above to complete the installation process.
1. Once installed, come back to the Meet app.
2. From the blue banner at the top tap Join.

Tip: In some cases an add-on might not be eligible to use. This can be due to reasons such as an add-on being disallowed by your Admin, add-on not compatible with your device etc. When this happens, you will notice a Can’t join activity prompt on your screen Tap Got it to dismiss the prompt.

Leave an activity

From the blue banner at the top of your Meet screen Tap Leave Activity.
From the pop-up that appears, Tap Leave Activity.

When you leave an activity, other meeting participants might still continue to collaborate via the add-on until the meeting host ends the activity for everyone.

If you want to return to the activity after leaving it, from the blue banner at the top of screen Tap Join.

Tip: Hosts also have the ability to end the activity for all participants.

Learn about host controls

This is currently available on desktop. If a non-host joins from a mobile device, they won’t be able to start an add-on activity.