Native Audio Capture Without Bot Participation
Granola now integrates directly with Google Meet, capturing audio at the operating system level without appearing in the participant list. Unlike native Google Meet recording, this approach prevents recording notifications from interrupting conversations and avoids the dynamic shift that occurs when a visible recording bot joins the call. The setup takes under five minutes and works across any browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge) with Granola's native desktop app for Mac or Windows.
How It Works
When you connect your Google Calendar during setup, Granola reads metadata about your meetings (attendees, title, time, date) to provide context and auto-generate reminder notifications. During a call, Granola captures your microphone input and system audio in real time, transcribing the conversation while you jot rough notes. After the meeting ends, Granola automatically merges your notes with an AI-enhanced summary that surfaces decisions, action items, and key quotes from the full transcript. Critically, no audio files are saved—only the transcript persists.
Configuration Steps
Installation: Download the app from granola.ai for Mac (13+) or Windows, then sign in with Google to grant calendar read permissions.
Audio Setup: On Mac, enable Microphone and Screen & System Audio Recording permissions in System Settings > Privacy & Security. On Windows, permissions grant during installation. Configure your default microphone as the input device in system audio settings to match your Google Meet setup. Granola works with AirPods and Bluetooth headphones by capturing system audio directly.
Usage: Join a Google Meet call normally. Granola shows a one-minute reminder before scheduled calls or detects active microphone use for unscheduled calls. Click to start transcribing, then jot notes as usual while Granola captures the full conversation.
Building a Searchable Research Repository
Beyond individual meeting summaries, Granola enables you to query across your entire past meeting repository. Ask "What did participants say about the pricing page?" and it returns citations from relevant meetings. This transforms flat Google Docs transcripts into a dynamic research tool that helps teams surface patterns and insights across dozens of calls—critical for PMs conducting user research at scale.