Google Meet freezing or crashing every few minutes; some unable to make calls ('You're already in a call'), fixes in the works

Google Meet users have lately been experiencing an issue where the app and web portal keep freezing after a few minutes. However, this is not the first time that people have faced difficulties while trying to use the platform.

For instance, we recently highlighted an issue where Google Meet on Chrome for Mac kept crashing for some when using an external camera.

And by looking at the reports (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10), it appears that users are once again encountering similar problems. People claim that Google Meet freezes just within a few minutes of initiating the video call.

Even though the video feed and audio get stuck on their side, everything functions normally on the other end, including their video stream.

And this is without a doubt quite frustrating and annoying for those who have to time and again ask others to repeat their statements. Sadly, the issue pops up even if one exits and rejoins the call.

Astonishingly, this happens even when no alterations to the account settings or network configuration have been made. As per the claims, the problem occurs across different devices and browsers, including Chrome and Safari.

In addition to this, users have also noticed instances where the app would automatically close on their tablet. But luckily, one can use alternative platforms like Skype or Zoom without any occasional hiccups.

I used Google Meet for meetings. Every meeting, without fail, will freeze after 5-6 minutes for about 20 seconds. This is annoying because I will have to have the person repeat whatever they just said.
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Regardless of device, browser, or hardware, on Google Meet, about every 5 minutes everyone freezes on my screen (all other participants, audio is muted) while on their side everything is normal (including me).
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Notably, the issue has been persistent for the past few weeks and remains unresolved until now.

Luckily, a Diamond Product Expert had already passed on the relevant information to the concerned team a few months ago.

But these issues don’t stop here.

Several Google Meet users (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) are also encountering a problem where they are unable to make calls with the app.

Allegedly, they get a ‘You’re already in a call. Do you want to leave your call to join this one’ message while trying to do so. Surprisingly, people receive such messages even when they are not on another active call.

Some also contend that they repeatedly get a ‘video call unavailable’ notification. They claim to have tried clearing the app cache and uninstalling and reinstalling the app but to no avail.

Some time after 9/11/23 Meet stopped working on all our android phones. We get a notice that “video call is unavailable”.
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Rebooting the device and tinkering with different permissions seem to have no effect as well. A user says that they get an error stating that their current network does not support a video call.

I have tried to make a video call but there is an error occuring current network does not support video call.
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Fortunately, the Google support team is aware of the issue and is currently working on fixing it.

They have also communicated that the bug fix will be bundled with the app update that is scheduled to be released over the next 1-2 weeks.

That said, we’ll continuously monitor the situation and update this article with the latest information.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Google section, so be sure to follow them as well.

Featured image source: Google Meet.

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