Google Meet, the recently rebranded Google Hangouts Meet, is gaining a lot of popularity in the clique of video conferencing apps. The app has seen an almost explosive surge amidst the lockdown brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Google Meet, which is a part of the G-suite, has become the trusted teleconferencing app for many organizations and institutions to hold online meetings and classes and for good reasons. The app boasts secure connection and security in online meetings is one of the most important factors. But it is not without its foibles.
The service offers no dedicated desktop app for Windows which may be an inconvenience for many users. Thankfully though, you can still install Google Meet as an app on your Windows 10 PC. And in many ways, maybe you’re better off with it.
Use Chrome to Install Google Meet as an App
If you have the Google Chrome browser installed on your computer, then it’s a good day for you. You can install any website as an app using the Chrome browser, and that includes Google Meet too.
Go to meet.google.com on the Chrome browser. Then, open the Chrome menu by clicking the three vertical dots on the right side of the address bar.
Go to ‘More Tools’ in the menu, and then click on ‘Create Shortcut’ from the expanded menu.
A prompt dialog box will appear on the screen when you click the Create Shortcut option. The shortcut will be named as ‘Meet’ by default. You can rename it if you want. Then, select the ‘Open as window’ checkbox to ensure that the shortcut always opens in a separate focused window just like an app. Finally, click the ‘Create’ button.
Chrome will create a desktop app for Google Meet. Then, you can run it just like any other app on your PC without having to run the browser.
You could launch the app from the Desktop shortcut or by searching from the Start menu.
Use Microsoft Edge to Install Google Meet as an App
If you are not a Chrome user and thought “well, there goes my chance to get the Google Meet App,” you have never been more wrong. The new Microsoft Edge users are also in luck. Ever since Edge has moved to the Chromium-based platform, it is almost a mirror image for all the Chrome functionalities, and that includes the capability to install any website as an app on Edge as well.
Open the new Microsoft Edge browser and go to meet.google.com. Click on the ‘Menu’ icon (three horizontal dots) on the right of the Address Bar. Go to the Apps option. Then, select the ‘Install this site as an app’ option from the submenu.
A dialog box will appear on the screen. You can change the suggested name for the app, and then click on the ‘Install’ button.
The website will be installed as an app with a shortcut icon on the desktop.
Google Meet might not have a dedicated desktop app for a PC, but users can use the Chrome or Edge browsers to install the website as an app on their desktops. It will function as an app as long as the browser used to create the app is installed on the system.
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