As you can see in the embedded GIF, the 360-degree background changes depending on where your phone or tablet is located. So if you move your phone left or right, your wallpaper will adjust to show a different landscape. Google says users can apply “multiple” new 360-degree backgrounds during video calls, including one with a beach and one with a temple.
While the feature looks pretty cool, I can see how these wallpapers can be distracting if you’re talking to someone who is constantly moving their phone. However, they’re still probably not as obnoxious as Meet’s collection of Snapchat-style filters — which currently include one that turns you into a cat and another that puts your face on a strawberry.
Last month, Google started rolling out emoji reactions for Meet, including the heart, thumbs-up, party-popper, clap, joy, surprised, thinking, crying, and thumbs-down emojis, but it has still a long way to go if it wants to overtake Zoom’s entire library of responses. Google is also gradually transitioning users to the new Meet app that combines Duo’s features, sending out its final warnings last month as it prepares for users to transition.
