Video conferencing has become an essential part of work for many of us since the onset of the global pandemic. Applications like Zoom, Google Meets and Webex have become virtual meeting rooms for millions of workers around the world.
Now, Google and Webex have announced a partnership to bring a Progressive Web App version of Webex to Chrome OS, and that means you should have an easier time joining Webex meetings from your Chromebook.
This is potentially a frustration-buster for folks who regularly use Webex on a Chrome device, as the desktop app version of Webex a bit more streamlined than opening the web app version of Webex in a browser. You can try it out for yourself right now by opening the Google Play Store on your Chromebook and downloading the Webex Meetings app.
This is the latest fruit of the partnership between Cisco and Google to smooth out the interoperability issues between their products. This has already led to improvements like being able to schedule and join Webex meetings directly from Gmail and Google Calendar. You’ll also have the ability to share and collaborate on Google Drive files from Webex’s messaging feature without changing apps or browsers.
This collaboration also extends to Webex devices. You can join scheduled and ad-hoc Google Meets sessions from Webex devices such as monitors and IP phones. You can also join Webex meetings from Google devices like the best Chromebooks quite quickly now, thanks to the new Webex PWA app.
Though this may not be earth-shattering news, it’s something that folks who are passionate about Chrome and/or Webex will likely appreciate. And if it makes the path to my next videoconferencing call just a little bit easier, it's all worth it.
