To optimize your experience in Gather, you can adjust a wide variety of settings related to audio, video, notifications, performance, and more. 

Before you enter a space, you'll see what we call the Check Your Hair screen (because you get to see your video preview and check your hair!). This is a quick way to review basic audio and video settings before joining a call. You can also edit your name and avatar. 

Once you're in the space, you can also adjust basic audio and video settings at any time using the microphone and video buttons in the bottom navigation bar. 

For more advanced settings, click on the Main Menu button in the bottom navigation bar. Then click Settings. 

Audio / Video Settings

From Settings, select the User tab at the top, then select Audio / Video.

Devices

Open the drop-down fields to change your camera, mic, or speaker selections.

If you do not see any options in the drop-down fields for Devices, check your system settings or browser settings.

If you're using Gather on Firefox, it does not allow you to select speaker output.

Audio Level

Select Start playback to test your microphone. When you are finished testing, select Stop playback.

Reduce background noise from me

This toggles on Background Noise Reduction, which automatically suppresses background noise that's picked up by your microphone. There are two levels: Standard and Enhanced. 

Echo Cancellation

Reduces echo when your microphone picks up sound from your speakers.

Automatic Gain Control 

Automatically adjusts the level of your microphone input.

Skip Welcome Screen

Save your preferred audio and video settings and skip the welcome screen when you enter a specific space. 

Larger Grid in Meeting View

Display up to 25 videos in Meeting View. Toggle this off to view no more than 9 videos at a time, which may improve your performance.

Auto Idle Muting

By default, auto idle muting is turned on so that your audio and video feed turn off whenever you are tabbed away from the Gather window and not connected to others. When you return to your Gather window, you can click anywhere on the screen or hit a button to turn your mic and camera back on.

If you turn auto idle muting off, your camera and video will remain on while you are tabbed away unless you manually turn your mic and camera on or off, even while you use other windows or applications.

By default, you will see HD videos if the people you are connected with are transmitting an HD video stream. You can turn this feature off to connect to SD video quality instead, which may improve your performance.

Mirror My Video

Flip your own video when it's shown to you, so it matches what you see in a mirror. Your video is never mirrored for others. Disable if you'd like to see what others see, for instance if there's text in your video that you'd like to be able to read.

Hide My Self-View

Hide your self-view during conversations, reducing distraction while still being visible to others. You can access your video feed anytime from the bottom navigation bar, where you can click to enlarge it.

Chat Sounds

By default, chat sounds are turned on. Toggle off this setting to mute the notification noise for new chat messages.

SFX Volume

Drag the SFX volume slider to adjust the audio level of any sounds in the Map (such as ambient noises or embedded media).

Debug Mode

By default, debug mode is turned off. Turn this mode on if you would like to see info on incoming/outgoing audio and video. This feature is generally helpful when working with Gather staff to troubleshoot. You can also toggle this on/off with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl/⌘+D.

Appearance

To manage your settings related to what you see while in the space, open Settings. Select the User tab, then select Appearance.

Beta Features

If you want to be first to experience features we're developing and testing, turn on beta features.

Use Smart Zoom

By default, Smart Zoom is turned on to provide you the best view of your Space based on the size of your browser window. You can turn off Smart Zoom to manually control your view of the Space. 

When you turn off Smart Zoom, scroll to zoom is enabled. Use the scroll wheel to zoom in or out of the Space.

Manual Map Zoom

When Smart Zoom is turned off, you can manually adjust the view of the Map. You can select a percentage or a point on the slider (or use scroll to zoom with your mouse while in the Space). 

Using the browser zoom function enlarges or shrinks the entire window, including the navigation menus and windows, whereas Manual Zoom just enlarges or shrinks the view of the Space.

Hardware Acceleration

By default, hardware acceleration is turned on to use your computer's graphics card when rendering Gather. Toggle this setting off if you are experiencing issues with graphics loading on your screen.

Limit Frame Rate

By default, your frames per second (fps) display at the highest level to provide the best video experience of Gather. Drag the slider to lower fps, which may improve your performance.

Accessibility

To adjust accessibility options, open Settings, choose the User tab at the top, and select Accessibility. 

Reduce Motion

By default, reduce motion is turned off. Toggle this setting on to limit the amount of animation displayed on the screen. (This may improve your performance, as well.)

Tooltip Label Size

By default, tooltip label size is set at 13 px. (Tooltips are the messages that display for interactive objects.) You can manually adjust the tooltip font size by dragging the slider or selecting one of the font sizes specified on the slider. 

Constant Tooltip Sizes

By default, constant tooltip sizes is on so that the tooltip font displays the same size regardless of the Map zoom level. Toggle this setting off to allow the tooltip labels to dynamically size with the Map zoom level.