Become A Google Meet Performance Expert

Become A Google Meet Performance Expert

January 25th 2021

The past week has been an eventful one for us in the IT department. Remember a few weeks ago I wrote about checking to see when new features will be released? Well, I think I may have cursed myself. Sometimes the introduction of new features to any kind of software is not a good thing. I'll tell you why - If a development team has pressure on them to release new features from clients or producers or publishers, they do not have the time needed to properly review and optimize these additions. This can result in many frustrating bugs or idiosyncrasies that tank the performance of the software. This just recently happened with Google Meet on Chromebooks. An update involving the introduction of new features has caused a noticeably higher percentage of CPU usage on older devices.

The last opportunity we had to speak with a Google Engineer, they expressed that their development timeline had gone from two years to just six months. They knew that many school districts were relying on their tools and they wanted to be sure that they would be robust enough for their needs as quickly as possible. Well, when you think about needing to do the same amount of work in a quarter of the time, it would make sense that sometimes they need to cut corners or make mistakes. It's unfortunate because only Google can fix Google tools and we must be satisfied by the hope that, if we report it, they will release a hotfix soon.

All this to lead in to one of their latest additions - the Google Meet troubleshooting and diagnostic tool. You can access this by clicking on the triple vertical dots in the bottom right hand corner of the screen and then selecting "Troubleshooting & help." The window that pops up gives you real time statistics on your network stability and CPU load. It also provides you with some generic suggestions for how to improve either one. If you notice your Chromebook starting to lag, you should use this tool to see what is source of your slow-down!

Well, this post has not only been therapeutic for me but also helpful to you! Now you know exactly how to see the strain on your device's internal components and can quantify the success of different troubleshooting strategies.

-Leo Bunyea, Technology Technician and Google Meet Whisperer