WorryFree Computers   »   [go: up one dir, main page]

3 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time. If not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete.


Hovercards for group messages and spaces are now available in Google Chat 
When hovering over a space or group chat within the left navigation in Google Chat, you will now see a hovercard that displays an abridged list of members and their avatars. This is especially useful when you need to distinguish one chat from another. In addition, you can include space hovercards across Chat apps using the shared hovercard library. | Available now to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. 
hovercards in Chat


New Google Calendar lock screen widgets on iOS mobile devices 
We’re excited to announce the launch of Google Calendar lock screen widgets on iOS mobile devices (iOS16+) and iPads (iOS17). These will surface an upcoming event or task, giving you a quick glance right from your lock screen. 
| Available now to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more about how to add widgets to your Lock Screen. 

widgets


Remove the background from your images in Google Slides 
You can now easily remove the background from images added to your Google Slides presentations. To do so, simply select an image on your slide > right-click and select "Remove background" or select the “Remove background” button in the toolbar. | Available now to Gemini Enterprise and Gemini Business add-ons, and to users on personal accounts through Google One AI Premium. | Learn more about removing an image background.
Remove the background from your images in Google Slides



Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.



Smooth scrolling in Google Sheets now available on desktop 
With smooth scrolling, you can scroll to a specific part of a row or column and stop wherever you’d like within the spreadsheet. | Learn more about scrolling in Sheets. 


New enhancements in the Space Management Tool For admins: add multiple members or groups, review settings and details 
We’re introducing several updates for the Space Management Tool in the Admin console, including an improved user interface and additional management capabilities. | Learn more about Space Management Tool For admins. 


Migrate email data from one Google Workspace account to another, available in open beta 
Beginning today, a new data migration experience is available: you can migrate your users’ email data from one Google Workspace account to another in a more reliable and efficient manner. You can configure your data migration for up to 100 users at a time and also run delta migrations, which smartly brings over any newly generated data from the source without duplicating previously migrated content. | Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, and Business Plus; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus; Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus; Essentials Starter, Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more about migrating email data. 


Set up dropdown chips more easily in Google Sheets 
Instead of manually creating values for your dropdown chips, you can now insert preset dropdown chips that are configured for common use cases like priority or review statuses. | Learn more about preset dropdown chips. 


Google Meet co-host support added for client-side encrypted meetings 
Client-side encrypted meetings are now getting support for using the co-hosts feature. This means that an organizer can plan and book client-side encrypted video meetings on behalf of other users and assign those as co-hosts to allow them to join and open the meetings independently from the organizer. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers only. | Learn more about client-side encrypted meetings. 


User enrollment for managed iOS devices is now generally available 
In late 2023, we introduced user enrollment in beta, an additional option for iOS mobile management. User enrollment separates work and personal data on iOS devices, giving admins control over Workspace data on the device while users retain privacy over their personal data. Beginning today, user enrollment is now generally available. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Frontline Standard, Frontline Starter, Business Plus, Cloud Identity Premium, Education Standard, Education Plus and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more about user enrollment.


Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog posts for additional details.


Rapid Release Domains: 
Scheduled Release Domains: 
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains: 

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).  

 


What’s changing 
In late 2023, we introduced user enrollment in beta, an additional option for iOS mobile management. User enrollment separates work and personal data on iOS devices, giving admins control over Workspace data on the device while users retain privacy over their personal data. Beginning today, user enrollment is now generally available. For more information, use our Help Center or reference our original announcement.


Getting started


Rollout pace

Availability
  • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Frontline Standard, Frontline Starter, Business Plus, Cloud Identity Premium, Education Standard, Education Plus and Nonprofits customers.


Update

[April 24, 2024] We have updated the rollout information for this feature. See the Rollout section below for more details.


What’s changing

We’re excited to announce a new feature, markups in Google Docs, which gives you more flexibility when providing feedback in a document. The new markups experience lets you add handwritten annotations to documents with a stylus or your finger when using an Android device. 

Markups can be useful in numerous scenarios, such as: 
  • Colleagues giving each other handwritten feedback on diagrams, charts, reports or proposals. 
  • Educators giving students feedback on their essays, reports, short stories and more. 
  • A homeowner providing ideas or updates on construction plans from their contractor. 
In order to add annotations, you must use an Android device. From there, you can: 
  • Enter the markups mode and annotate using pen or highlighter tools 
  • Hide/show markups 
  • Erase markups 
  • Insert suggested markups 
Markups on Android


On iOS devices, you can: 
  • View a document with markups 
  • Delete markups 
  • Hide/show markups 
markups on iOS

On desktop, you can: 
  • View a document with markups 
  • Delete markups 
  • Hide/show markups 
markups on desktop


Getting started 
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: To turn on markups, open a document > select the markups tool from the contextual toolbar > draw with your finger or stylus. Visit the Help Center to learn how to use drawings & markups.

Rollout pace 
  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 27, 2024, with expected completion by April 30, 2024
  • Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 7, 2024

Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts 
Resources:

What’s changing 
Last year, we announced that all newly created spaces in Google Chat will be in-line threaded. This streamlined user experience enables you to reply to any message and create a separate discussion isolated from the main conversation. We also introduced several updates, such as home, mentions and starred messages to help you find what you need much faster in Chat.

Today, we’re continuing our enhancements across Chat by improving the in-line threaded experience in spaces. With multiple threads across numerous spaces, we know it can be difficult to identify which unread threads are most relevant to you. In order to provide you with more context upfront, you will now see participant avatars for unread threads in the conversation view. Without having to click to open the thread side panel, it will now be much easier to decide which threads to read and reply to. 
Web experience


Who’s impacted 
End users 


Why you’d use it 
Being able to see the participant avatars for unread threads makes it easier to identify whether a thread is relevant to you. 
mobile experience



Getting started 
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This will be ON by default. Visit the Help Center to learn how to use Google Chat

Rollout pace 
Web: 
Android:
iOS:
Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts 

Resources 

What’s changing 
Companion mode in Google Meet is designed to seamlessly connect those in meeting rooms with their remote teammates, giving everyone access to interactive features and controls, while leveraging the best of in-room audio and video conferencing capabilities. Currently, you can use companion mode from a laptop or desktop device. Beginning today, you’ll be able to use companion mode with your Android and iOS devices. 


Using Companion mode from your mobile device is a quick, light-weight way to participate in meetings without opening a laptop. This can be particularly useful in meeting spaces where room for a laptop is limited, or as an easy, discreet way to participate during large in-person meetings, such as all hands or town halls. 


Specifically, you can use companion mode to:
  • Check-in to the room to be identified by name.
  • Share an emoji reaction without interrupting the speaker.
  • Raise your hand to indicate that you’d like to speak.
  • Turn on captions to view subtitles as everyone speaks during a meeting.
  • Exchange chat messages with other meeting participants.
  • View and zoom in on presented content to easily follow along with the presenter on your own device.

You can also use the room check-in feature on mobile as well, making it easier for other attendees to see your name alongside the conference room you’re joining from.


Share an emoji reaction without interrupting the speaker.


Raise your hand to indicate that you’d like to speak.

Turn on captions to view subtitles as everyone speaks during a meeting.

Exchange chat messages with other meeting participants.

View and zoom in on presented content to easily follow along with the presenter on your own device




Getting started
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: 
    • This feature will be available by default. You can join a meeting using companion mode from the green room before your meeting. Use this Help Center article and video guide to learn more about using companion mode in Google Meet.
    • Note: Your audio and mic will automatically be muted—we recommend using meeting room hardware for audio and video to avoid feedback. 

Rollout pace

Note that the following minimum builds are required:

  • Minimum Android Build: 
    • Meet - 229. (Android Settings > Apps > Meet > [App Info > Version])
    • Gmail - 2024.01.28. (Android Settings > Apps > Gmail > [App Info > Version])

  • Minimum iOS Build: 
    • Meet - 225.0. (Meet App > Settings About, terms, privacy)
    • Gmail - 6.0.231231. (Gmail App > Settings > About Gmail)

Availability
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers
  • Also available to Google Workspace Individual customers, as well as users with personal Google accounts

Resources



2 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time. If not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete.


Unsubscribe from emails on Gmail more easily 
We know managing unwanted emails is a source of frustration for many users. That’s why we announced new guidelines for bulk senders a few months ago to help users stay safe. Now, we’re introducing new ways to make it even easier to unsubscribe from unwanted emails in Gmail on web and mobile by:
  • Adding the unsubscribe button to the hover actions in the threadlist on web. When the unsubscribe button is clicked, Gmail sends a http request or an email to the sender to remove your email address from their mailing list. 
    Unsubscribe from emails on Gmail more easily
  • Moving the unsubscribe button from the three dot menu to appear more prominently in your email on your Android and iOS devices.
Additionally, we know it is common for people to receive unwanted messages, despite initially signing up to receive them from brands or organizations. These messages often originate from legitimate senders, and marking them as spam can negatively impact the sender's email reputation and can potentially affect the deliverability of future emails. For this reason, we're changing the text of the buttons to make it clearer for users to choose between unsubscribing or reporting a message as spam. 

These features are now available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts on web and iOS devices, and are rolling out now on Android devices at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). | Learn more about unsubscribing from emails and reporting spam in Gmail.


Updating the mobile experience on Android tablets and foldable devices 
Last year, we announced enhancements to the Google Drive mobile experience on Android tablets. This included several modernizations, such as shifting the navigation bar to the side of the Drive app. Similarly, we’ve moved the navigation bar for Gmail to the side to optimize the experience on tablets and foldable devices. This migration will make it easier for users to switch tabs in Gmail. | Available now to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. 
Updating the mobile experience on Android tablets and foldable devices




Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.


Launch the Lucidspark whiteboarding app directly from Google Meet Series One Board 65 and Desk 27 devices 
By the end of the month, Lucidspark by Lucid Software can be launched directly from Google Meet Series One Board 65 and Desk 27 devices. With this integration, users will be able to share and participate in a Lucidspark whiteboard session in a Meet call, either initiated from the Series One Board 65 and Desk 27 or a remote participant on the call. | Learn more about the Lucidspark whiteboarding app. 

Use comments & action items on your client-side encrypted Google Docs 
You can now collaborate with others on client-side encrypted Google Docs to add, edit, reply, filter, or delete comments. You can also assign action items to yourself or others. This added functionality helps bring parity to unencrypted docs while also ensuring your data is behind encryption keys you control, including the identity provider used to access those keys. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about CSE comments & action items in Docs. 

Combine multiple video effects, improve lighting and audio in Google Meet 
We’re launching three new features to personalize your appearance in Google Meet. | Learn more about combining multiple video effects on web and mobile, studio lighting on web and studio sound. 

Join meetings as a guest without a Google account on mobile devices 
You can now quickly join a meeting as a guest without signing into a personal or work Google account or creating a new Google account. This functionality already exists for meetings on the web and, by expanding to mobile, guests now have greater flexibility for joining Meet meetings on the go. | Learn more about joining meetings as a guest.

Star messages in Google Chat on mobile
Last November, we introduced starred on web, an additional shortcut in the redesigned Google Chat navigation panel that helps you stay on top of your most important messages. We’re excited to announce this is now available on Android and iOS mobile devices. | Learn more about starring messages.

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog posts for additional details.

Rapid Release Domains: 

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains: 

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases). 

What’s changing
Last November, we introduced starred on web, an additional shortcut in the redesigned Google Chat navigation panel that helps you stay on top of your most important messages. Today, we’re excited to announce this is now available on Android and iOS mobile devices. 
star messages on mobile

Getting started 
Rollout pace 
Android: 
iOS: 
Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts
Resources 

What’s changing 
You can now quickly join a meeting as a guest without signing into a personal or work Google account or creating a new Google account. This functionality already exists for meetings on the web and, by expanding to mobile, guests now have greater flexibility for joining Meet meetings on the go. 




To join as a guest, you need to be on the Calendar invite for the meeting or have been provided the meeting code or the meeting link beforehand. Before you join the meeting, you’ll be prompted to enter your name and “knock” (aka ask to join the meeting) to be admitted. Once a meeting host or co-host accepts your knock, you’ll jump right into the meeting.

Getting started
Rollout pace
  • iOS: Available now.
  • Android: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 17, 2024

Availability
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.


Resources

What’s changing
In the coming weeks, we’ll be introducing several improvements to Chrome-on-iOS that will help admins more seamlessly apply policies and preferences across their users’ managed devices. This launch will align with the planned release of Chrome 121. Specifically, these improvements are: 
  • Cross-device policy application: Whether it’s a company-owned or personal device, Chrome User Policies can be applied when a user signs into the Chrome browser with their managed account. This ensures a consistent and secure browsing experience across all devices.
  • Management notice for end-users: Managed end-users will begin seeing a management notice, informing them that their organization manages the account they are signing into. This transparency not only fosters trust but also keeps users informed about the security measures in place to protect their data. 
  • Admin console integration: Admins can easily activate this functionality through the Admin console under the "Chrome on iOS" Browser setting. This centralized control allows admins to tailor policies to meet the specific needs of their organization, ensuring a customized and secure browsing environment for all users.
Getting started
 
We’ll remind you that your account is managed upon login and when you’re logged in.


Rollout pace
End user notifications

Admin console integration

Availability
  • Available to all Chrome Browser Cloud Management and Google Workspace customers

Resources

What’s changing 
Ensuring only managed applications can access sensitive information is vital to security. Currently, when admins make a policy change that results in an app going from unmanaged to managed, if a policy violation is detected, a 24-hour grace period is given to users to comply with the change. After this grace period, users will lose the ability to access their Google Workspace account. 


Moving forward, we’re adjusting a few components to how this grace period operates to boost compliance and prevent inadvertent circumvention. Specifically:

Grace Period 

Situation

Next Steps



None 

-The managed apps policy violation is detected during the device enrollment.

-The managed apps policy violation by an app is detected after 24 hrs from the moment the admin changes the policy.

Users will be prompted to install the app from the Google Device Policy app for IOS or they will lose access to Google Workspace.

Visit the Help Center to learn more.


24 hours

The managed apps policy violation by an app is detected within the 24hrs from the moment the admin changes the policy. 



Who’s impacted
Admins and end users


Why it’s important
Improving these safeguards helps ensure that  only managed applications can access sensitive organization information. If the managed applications do not meet the requirements of the access policies set by admins, managed application access to Workspace data is deactivated until users take the proper steps.


Getting started

Rollout pace
Availability
  • Available to Google Workspace Frontline Starter and Frontline Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials and Enterprise Essentials Plus and Cloud Identity Premium customers

Resources

3 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time. If not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete.


New ways to use the Google Sheets app on iOS devices 
You can now copy charts from the Google Sheets app on all iOS devices and paste them externally as images or within the same spreadsheet as a duplicate chart. In addition, you can modify text formatting using the contextual toolbar in Sheets when a keyboard is attached to iOS tablets. | Rolling out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains now. | Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. | Learn more about adding & editing a chart or graph and editing & formatting a spreadsheet
New ways to use the Google Sheets app on iOS devices



Adding ‘Admin managed apps’ category to Google Workspace Marketplace
We’re excited to announce a new featured app category in the Marketplace: Admin managed. These Enterprise apps can be installed only by a Google Workspace administrator for their organization. | Available now to all Google Workspace customers. | Learn more about Featured app categories


Bulk select in Gmail on Android and iOS devices 
We’re introducing a feature that enables you to bulk select a batch of messages in the email threadlist with one tap using the Gmail app on Android and iOS devices. After clicking the select all icon, a batch of messages will be selected, enabling you to easily perform email actions such as deleting multiple messages or marking them as “read”. | This feature is available now on Android devices and is rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains on iOS devices. | Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. 
Bulk select in Gmail on Android and iOS devices



Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.



Create shareable video presentations in Google Slides 
We’re introducing slides recordings, a new Google Slides feature that lets you easily record yourself presenting, and then share the presentation with others to view when it works for them. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus and Education Plus only. | Learn more about slides recordings. 

The next evolution of automated data entry in Google Sheets 
Enhanced Smart Fill in Google Sheets is available for customers with the Duet AI for Google Workspace Enterprise add-on. | Learn more about enhanced smart fill

Expanding message bubbles in Google Chat to iOS devices 
In September, we introduced message bubbles in Google Chat on web and Android, enabling users to more easily differentiate incoming versus outgoing messages in the Chat message stream. This week, we’re excited to announce the expansion of message bubbles to iOS devices. | Learn more about message bubbles

Updates to the Google Drive scanner on Android & iOS devices 
We’re introducing additional enhancements to the Drive scanner on Android devices, which now powers the Google Pixel camera and includes improvements to the scanner experience when capturing content. We’re also expanding the Google Drive scanner and title suggestion feature to iOS devices. | Learn more about Drive scanner. 

Introducing a new homepage view in Google Drive 
We’ve added a new streamlined homepage for Drive called Home that makes it easier and faster for you to find files that matter most. | Learn more about Drive home

Introducing a new mobile experience for Google Chat 
We recently announced a streamlined user experience in Google Chat to help you find what you need much faster, including new features like home and mentions. Starting today, we’re excited to introduce a new bottom navigation bar within the Chat app on Android & iOS devices to help you easily access these features on mobile. | Learn more about the Chat mobile experience

Google Vault now supports Google Calendar 
Google Vault now supports Calendar, which means customers can take new actions around Calendar data. | Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus customers or customers with the Vault add-on license only. | Learn more about Vault supporting Calendar

More insights to help admins troubleshoot Google Meet hardware issues 
In 2022, we introduced several improvements for managing Google Meet hardware devices. These improvements included surfacing additional information about device issues, such as a description of the issue, when the issue was detected, and more. Now, we’re taking these improvements one step further by providing admins with even more data points. | Learn more about Google Meet hardware issues

Monitor insider risk of Google Workspace data with Chronicle 
Admins can now more seamlessly integrate their Google Workspace data with Chronicle (Google’s cloud-native Security Operations platform), to quickly detect, investigate and take action on risky activity and threats. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus customers only. | Learn more about Chronicle

Google Classroom now supports roster import from SIS partners
Educators can now easily import students from their student information system (SIS) to Google Classroom using OneRoster. This integration saves educators time and helps make class setup much quicker. | Available to Education Plus and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade only. | Learn more about roster import. 

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog posts for additional details.


Rapid Release Domains: 
Scheduled Release Domains: 
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains: 


For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

What’s changing
We recently announced a streamlined user experience in Google Chat to help you find what you need much faster, including new features like home and mentions. Starting today, we’re excited to introduce a new bottom navigation bar within the Chat app on Android & iOS devices to help you easily access these features on mobile. You will now have easy access to the following views: 
  • Home: helps you stay on top of all conversions in one unified view, with a filter that allows you to drill down to unread messages. 
  • Direct messages: see a compact list of all your 1:1 and group messages, including pinned conversations at the top of the list. 
  • Spaces: see a compact list of all your spaces, including pinned conversations at the top of the list. 
  • Mentions: helps you easily find messages from conversations and spaces where you’ve been mentioned. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 
Android & iOS: 

Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

What’s changing
For years, users have had the ability to scan physical documents, such as a receipt or passport, using the Google Drive app on Android devices. And earlier this year, we added additional functionality to recommend relevant title suggestions for scanned documents by leveraging machine learning. 

Today, we’re introducing additional enhancements to the Drive scanner on Android devices, which now powers the Google Pixel camera and includes improvements to the scanner experience when capturing content. Specifically, you’ll notice: 
  • Automatic capture to help you get the best scan quickly 
  • Camera viewfinder that helps you position your document for the highest quality scan 
  • The option to import from your camera roll 
  • A faster way to initialize a scan with a new scanner button 
Android Scanner

We’re also expanding the Google Drive scanner and title suggestion feature to iOS devices. Now, when using your iOS phone or tablet, you can easily scan and digitally organize physical documents, crop them if needed, and receive relevant title suggestions based on machine learning. 
iOS Scanner


Getting started
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • Open the Drive app on your Android device > scan a document via the camera icon or scan a document via the Scan button under the “+” icon > assess/adjust the automatic cropping > scan multiple pages in a session (if needed) > apply filters > save to Drive. 
    • Open the Drive app on your iOS device > scan a document via the camera icon or scan a document via the Scan button under the “+” icon > > scan multiple pages in a session (if needed) > click on scan to apply filters or crop as needed > save to Drive. 
    • Note: Title suggestions are only available in the US. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about scanning documents with Google Drive. 

Rollout pace
iOS: 
Android: 
  •  This feature is now available 
Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 
Resources