In the past year, we’ve made some changes to the Google bar that is displayed across the top of most Google apps. For instance, if a user has a picture associated with their account, they’ll see that picture in the Google bar; if they don’t have a picture, they’ll see their initial.

Because these changes have made it easier for account owners to identify the account they’re currently signed into and using, there’s no longer a need to display their name in the Google bar as well. With that in mind, starting today, account owner names will disappear from the space next to the app launcher in the Google bar in any Google apps where they previously appeared.


Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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As security on mobile devices becomes increasingly important, we want to give Google Apps administrators an improved ability to monitor key activities occurring on managed devices. With that in mind, we are launching Mobile Audit, which audits activities on iOS and Android devices managed by Google Mobile Management. Examples of activities that will be recorded include mobile application changes, operating system updates, and device settings changes.

This will help admins make more informed decisions around which policies to enable and what actions to take. For instance, imagine a user loses their device. Previously, an admin would simply wipe the device. Following this launch, however, the admin can investigate further by checking the device’s audit trail. If he or she observes suspicious activities—like failed attempts to log in to the device or a change in the device’s serial number—he or she can choose to block the device instead of just wiping it.

Admins can visit the Reports page in the Admin console to see all audit events. They can then filter those events by event name, device ID, user name, or date and time. Additionally, admins can set up “alerts,” so they’ll be notified when certain activities take place on their users’ devices.

For more information on Mobile Audit and to see a list of all events audited, please refer to the Help Center.

Please note that only users with Google Apps Unlimited licenses (excluding Google Apps for Education) will have their mobile events audited.




Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout over the course of several weeks

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Mobile audit log
Help Center: Administrator alerts
Help Center: View your organization's mobile devices
Google Apps Developer Blog

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Earlier this year, we launched several improvements for Data Loss Prevention for Gmail, such as optical character recognition and more flexible content detection thresholds. Google Apps Unlimited customers all around the world were able to start using DLP to automatically check outgoing messages according to content policies set by the administrator and help prevent accidental data loss.

In this latest release, we’re adding several new Personally Identifiable Information (PII) predefined detectors to enhance your DLP for Gmail solutions. The new detectors are as follows:

• Mexico - Passport Number
• Mexico - CURP Code
• Korea - Passport Number
• Spain - Passport Number
• Germany - Passport Number
• USA - Passport Number
• China - Passport Number
• Canada - Passport Number
• France - Passport Number
• Japan - Passport Number
• UK - Passport Number

DLP for Gmail is available for Google Apps Unlimited customers only.


Launch Details

Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Scan your email traffic using data loss protection

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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(Cross-posted on Google Apps Developer Blog)

Posted by Tom Holman, Product Manager, Google Sheets

There was a time when office work used to be all about pushing physical paper. Computing and productivity tools have made things better, but workers still find themselves doing the same tasks over and over across the different apps they use: copying and pasting from a CRM app to a slide presentation, or manually exporting data from a project management app just to turn around and import it back into a spreadsheet. It’s the digital equivalent of pushing paper.

To make it easier to get the job done across multiple apps, without all the copy and paste, we’re announcing three new APIs and a new feature to help workers get to the data they need, when and where they need it.

Build seamless integrations with the new Sheets and Slides APIs

Our new APIs let developers connect their apps—and the data within them—more deeply with Google Sheets and Google Slides.

The new Sheets API gives developers programmatic access to powerful features in the Sheets web and mobile interfaces, including charts and pivot tables. For example, developers can use Sheets as part of a rich workflow that pushes data from their app into Sheets and allows users to collaborate on that data before the updated data is pulled back into the original app, removing altogether the need to copy and paste.

Teams at Anaplan, Asana, Sage, Salesforce, and SAP Anywhere are already building interesting integrations with the new Sheets API. Check out this video to see an overview of what’s possible, as well as several example integrations.


The new Sheets API is available today. Find the developer documentation as well as a codelab to help you get started at developers.google.com/sheets.

Similar to the Sheets API, the new Slides API gives developers programmatic access to create and update presentations. For example, developers can use this API to push data and charts into Slides to create a polished report from source data in other application, ready to present.

Conga, ProsperWorks, SalesforceIQ, and Trello are all building integrations with Slides using the new API. Several examples of what’s possible are in this video.


The Slides API will be launching in the coming months, and these partner integrations will be available soon after. You can sign up for early access to the Slides API at developers.google.com/slides.

Keep your data in sync with the new Classroom API

For developers building tools and workflows for schools, the Classroom API has launched new coursework endpoints to help you build stronger integrations that keep your data in sync. Read the full announcement on the Google for Education blog, here.


Say goodbye to stale data with linked charts

Finally, to make sure we can help keep all this data flowing seamlessly from app to app, users can now also embed linked charts from Sheets into Docs or Slides. The result? Once the underlying data in a spreadsheet changes, whether that change comes from an action taken in another app via the API or a collaborator, an updated chart in the corresponding presentation or document is just one click away.



For more information, see how to add a chart to a document or to a presentation.

We can't wait to see what you build.

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Charts help you display data in a visually compelling way. At work, the same chart may be used across multiple documents and presentations, to help you better convey your message and strengthen your argument. If that chart changes, it can be tedious and time-consuming to replace it in each and every file. To save you valuable time, we’re now making it possible to update your chart with a single click—without ever needing to leave your document or presentation.

To get started, simply go to Insert > Chart in Google Docs or Slides on the web. Insert a new chart, or select From Sheets to add an existing chart from the spreadsheet of your choice. As long as you check the Link to spreadsheet box, you’ll be given the option to update the chart with one click if its underlying data in Google Sheets changes. Should you no longer want to be notified of updates to a particular chart, you can simply unlink it. This same functionality is available if you copy and paste a chart into a document or presentation.



Please note that the ability to import or update linked charts will only be available to collaborators with edit access to the document, presentation, or underlying spreadsheet. For more information on embedding charts in your Docs and Slides files, check out the Help Center articles below.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Add a chart to a slide
Help Center: Add a chart to a document

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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We know that internet connections can be spotty when you’re working on your phone on the go. And we recognize that sometimes you need access to a file you didn’t remember to make available offline. With this launch, we’ll make it easier to open Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files on your Android and iOS devices when you’re not online.




Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Work on Google files offline

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Last September, we announced plans to no longer support two very old security systems called SSLv3 and RC4. As mentioned in Adam Langley’s announcement, these systems are no longer secure and pose a risk to those still using them:

Google Calendar on the web is getting an update today: event locations will now appear in the day and week views.

Instead of needing to navigate to an event’s details in order see the event location, the event location will now appear on your calendar, when there is enough space available. For example, the Global Sales Training is located at Building 43-1-R45 in the image below:

An update to the Google Calendar app for Android is coming to Google Play. When you dial in to your conference call, Google Calendar can now automatically add the passcode. Simply tap the call-in number from the calendar event and you’ll be prompted to select the relevant passcode for you ─ host or participant. 

Back in 2011, we launched the ability for any Google Apps administrator to set up DomainKey Identified Mail (DKIM). DKIM is a way to digitally sign messages so that recipient servers can verify that the message really comes from your domain and hasn't been changed along the way. Additionally, when you sign your messages with DKIM, they become less likely to get caught up in recipients’ spam filters.

The fight against spoofers still continues today, and as spoofers’ tools have gotten more powerful, 1024-bit DKIM keys are no longer as secure. For that reason, we’re pleased to announce that Google Apps customers can now digitally sign their messages with 2048-bit DKIM keys, and we strongly recommend making this the standard for all email messages sent from your domain going forward.

Recommendations

• If you are currently not using DKIM to protect your Gmail messages, set up 2048-bit DKIM in the Admin console. See the Help Center articles below for instructions.
  
• If you are already using DKIM with 1024-bit keys, check with your DNS provider to see if they support 2048-bit keys. If so, update your domain keys to 2048-bit for the best protection.

Important: Some domain registrars do not yet support 2048-bit DKIM keys, even though this has been available for more than 30 years. For those domains, we still offer the ability to sign messages with 1024-bit keys from a drop-down.


Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
About DKIM
Generate the domain key
Update DNS records
Update DNS records for a subdomain

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Google BigQuery is a serverless analytics data warehouse that lets you analyze large amounts of data to find meaningful insights, using familiar SQL. BigQuery is fully managed which means it frequently delivers features and upgrades without any downtime or burden on the user. For enterprise customers, the BigQuery team strives to deliver features that improve user productivity and interoperability, and make BigQuery even easier to use.

Last week, the BigQuery team announced integration with Google Drive. You can now:

• Save query results directly to Google Sheets from the BigQuery UI. 
• Query files directly from Google Drive, without first loading them into BigQuery. 
• Query Google Sheets spreadsheets from BigQuery as you edit them in Sheets! 

Check out the post on the Google Cloud Big Data and Machine Learning blog for more details.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launched to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Impact:
All end users/developers

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information 
Google Cloud Big Data and Machine Learning blog post


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We’re happy to announce that starting today the Gentle Notifications lab is graduating to become a fully supported feature.


This new feature is opt-in and automatically activated for existing lab users. In order to opt-in, simply enable browser notifications from the settings menu in Google Calendar.


Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in 2 weeks

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center

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Based on your feedback, we’re improving the search and filter experience in the Audit Reports section of the Admin console. Previously, when you typed a query in any one of the “Filters” fields in a particular report, we would automatically begin searching when your cursor left that field—an unexpected and often confusing experience. To make this workflow more intuitive, we’re adding a Search button below the filtering fields, which you’ll need to explicitly click to launch any search. This should make the process of pulling key reports quicker and easier.


Check out the Help Center for more details.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Admin Audit Log

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Any skilled presenter knows that an interactive presentation is often an effective presentation. Starting today, you can better engage your audience by allowing them to submit questions and vote on them during Google Slides presentations.

To see the feature in action, check out this video in which Google Science Fair winner Shree Bose fields questions from a group of 200 middle school students.



A few things to note:

• The Slides Q&A feature works on desktop computers, Android mobile devices, and iOS mobile devices.

• You can only use Slides Q&A if you have edit or comment access to that Slides presentation.

• By default, any user in your domain can submit a question. If your organization permits external sharing, you can allow external users to submit questions as well.

For more information on how to accept, submit, and view audience questions in Google Slides, check out the Help Center.

Bonus! Allowing your audience to ask questions isn’t the only way we’re improving the presentation experience on Slides today. We’re also making the following possible:

• Use your mouse as a laser pointer in Slides on the web. Just choose the laser pointer option from the toolbar and move your mouse, and a red laser-like dot will appear in the same place on screen, helping your audience know where to look and when.

• In the Slides iOS app, present to a new Hangout or to a Hangout selected from a meeting on your Google Calendar. For more information, check out the Help Center. 

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release:

• All mobile features
• All audience features on mobile and desktop

Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks:

• Ability for a presenter to enable Q&A on desktop

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Ask and present audience questions
Help Center: Present slides
Google for Work Blog: Talk with your audience — not at them — with Slides Q&A

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Images—for instance, business logos—can make or break a spreadsheet. With that in mind, we’re launching improved image and drawing functionality in the Google Sheets mobile apps. Starting today, you can:

• View images and drawings in in the Sheets app on your iPhone or iPad.

• View images and drawings—even in frozen sections!—in the Sheets app on your Android device (previously these images would not render in frozen cells on Android).

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Today, we’re announcing that as of July 1, 2016, we will discontinue support for Drive for Mac/PC sync client versions 1.22 and lower and going forward, any Google Drive for Mac/PC versions which are older than 1 year old.

Newer versions of the sync client offer several performance and security updates. We recommend that you take the following actions as soon as possible:

• If you manage your users’ installations, upgrade by following the instructions in the “Install Google Drive for Mac/PC” Google Apps Administrator Help Center article.
• If users have installed the client on their own, direct them to the “Install Google Drive for your Mac/PC” Drive Help Center article for end-users.

OS X and Windows users may check what version of the sync client they are using by clicking on the Drive for Mac/PC menu (which appear as three dots) and then clicking About. The dialog that appears will include the version number on it. Users still on versions 1.22 and lower after July 1, 2016 will no longer be able to sync files between Google Drive and local storage using Google Drive for Mac/PC.

In the coming weeks, we’ll also be contacting domain administrators whose users currently use older versions of Google Drive for Mac/PC and provide guidance on the appropriate migration path.

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

We recently announced that the new Google Contacts is available for preview from the Admin console. By enabling the preview, administrators can allow their users access to the new Google Contacts, along with the many benefits that come with it, like a new fresh look and improved contact merge features.

One popular request from Google Apps users was the ability to easily import their contacts into Google Contacts. We’re happy to announce that starting today, the ability to import contacts, powered by ShuttleCloud, is now available for Google Apps users.

Getting started for administrators

• Administrators must first enable the "Contacts Preview" for their users via Apps > Google Apps > Settings for Contacts > Advanced Settings
  
  

Check out the latest "What's New in Google Apps" newsletter [pdf] for a roundup of all Apps launches from April 2016.

Newsletter Archive & Translated Versions (coming soon for April issue)

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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