I’ve been the default note taker in almost every meeting since I started working in an office. It started because I had a nice pen, and then stuck because I tried every new note-taking app before anyone else.
The apps got faster at typing and recording over the years, but none of them fixed my main problem. As a team member, I have to follow the discussion, record it, and extract action items at the same time.
That is why I paid attention when Google Meet’s AI-powered Take Notes for Me rolled out in August 2024. However, most of my meetings were in person around a table, and it only covered video calls.
In August 2026, Google brought the feature to in-person meetings, and I have used it in almost every meeting since then.
How Take Notes for Me works in a room
One button starts the session, and Gemini handles the notes
I use Take Notes for Me on video calls, and it does a good job each time. But after my team moved back to the office, I stopped using it because it could not capture a meeting in a room.
The in-person version fixes this limitation, and it doesn’t need a conference room with Meet hardware. I open the Google Meet app, tap Take notes, then tap Start taking notes, and place my phone on the table.
Gemini listens until I tap Stop, with a confirmation button to ensure an accidental tap doesn’t end the session. It then saves a summary, the action items, and the full transcript to a Google Docs file in my Drive, and it emails me the link.
I can also pause a session if the discussion moves to something that shouldn’t be recorded. This stops both the transcript and the notes until I tap Continue.
Google began rolling the feature out on Android on August 11, 2026, and scheduled the web and iOS versions to follow later that month. It needs an eligible Google AI Pro/Ultra plan or a supported Workspace plan.
Why I use Meet instead of a recorder app
The notes are stored with the rest of my team’s work
Pixel Recorder and many other apps have transcribed conversations for years. Take Notes for Me is better because of the work it does after the meeting ends.
More importantly, it’s already included in the office’s Google Workspace subscription. I don’t have to manage another app subscription or deal with integration issues.
It doesn’t end there, either. With most transcription apps, I still have to read, sort, and share transcripts by hand. In contrast, Meet sends me a Google Docs file with the action items pulled out.
That Docs file is stored in the same Drive my team uses, so I can search for it alongside the project files it covers.
Meet also covers colleagues who can’t make it into the office for the meeting. If someone remote wants to join, it’s simple to switch the session to a normal video call.
There are a couple of limitations, though. Google recommends sessions of 15 minutes or longer, and it supports one language per meeting.
Recording a room needs a warning
Participants may not know Gemini is listening
For my first try, I picked a short alignment session on a project I wasn’t working on. That way, I could run a comprehensive test of the feature.
I wrote down every action item by hand, so I had a list to compare Gemini against. The in-person transcript was just as accurate as it had been on video calls.
I also received the email shortly after I pressed Stop. Surprisingly, Gemini’s action item list matched the one I wrote by hand, and it even caught an item I missed because I was distracted.
That’s enough for me to use it in meetings where I have a bigger role. Before I did, I went into the settings, since Google Meet now lets me choose which sections appear in its notes.
One thing to keep in mind is that, unlike video calls, participants don’t get a notification that notes are being taken. In a room, the only sign is on my phone screen, which nobody else is looking at.
I didn’t think about it until I had used the feature in several meetings. I usually turned it on without a word, leaving people unaware that Gemini was recording them.
Now I tell the room at the start of each meeting that Gemini is taking notes. That also gives anyone the chance to ask me to pause before a sensitive topic.
I stopped choosing between taking part and taking notes
Take Notes for Me is one of the Google Meet features I overlooked until the in-person version made it part of my work routine.
I sit through three-hour brainstorms, and a Docs file with the action items listed saves me from sorting my notes afterward.
Using Meet’s note taker on my personal account is now high on the list of reasons I’m considering a Google AI Pro plan.
