Whether you’re on vacation or just offline at the end of your workday, Google Calendar can help protect your time out of the office. We’re introducing a new out of office option and customizable working hours to further improve your digital well-being.

Indicate when you’re going out of office

When creating an event on the web, simply select the “Out of office” Calendar entry type. The Out of office object will have a different look on the Calendar grid, signalling to others that you’re unavailable.



Google Calendar will automatically decline meetings that occur during this time period. You can customize both the decline message as well as the visibility of the title of your out of office object.

Going forward, Google Calendar will try to intelligently detect, based on the title entered, when you’re creating an out of office object and change the type automatically. You can always manually change this if you’d like to opt for a different entry type.

Restrict your working hours

By setting your working hours, you protect your personal time from your work time. People who will try to schedule meetings with you outside of these hours will be informed that you are not available at that time. You can already set your working hours to one interval for all days of the week. With this launch, you can now customize your work hours for each day separately.

Based on your timezone and past scheduling patterns, Google Calendar can now infer your working hours. You may see a prompt asking you to set them, and you can further customize them as needed.



For more information on these and other settings in Google Calendar, check out the Help Center.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

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

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Change your Calendar settings
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We're introducing new features in Google Vault that allow for more granular retention and provide a more transparent search experience. These features can help you retain exactly the data you need and thereby reduce your liability risk, as well as improve your eDiscovery process with better search and export capabilities.

Set retention policies for Hangouts Meet recordings
Previously, Hangouts Meet recordings were subject to applicable Drive retention rules. With this launch, you can set default and custom retention rules specifically for Hangouts Meet. This will allow you to set shorter retention periods for Meet recordings if, for example, they happen to contain more sensitive content.


Set retention policies for files in Drive trash
As a G Suite admin, you can now also set custom retention rules specifically for Drive files that have been moved to a user’s trash. This option provides more flexibility for organizations who wish to control the lifecycle of files deleted by users separately from those files still active in their users' My Drive and Team Drives.


Large search improvements
With this launch, we’re making the process of searching your entire domain and large OUs easier and more transparent. If a data type supports domain-wide search, you can now select “All Accounts” to search the entire domain.


As Vault processes your large search request, you’ll see an activity indicator and the amount of time that has elapsed. You’ll also have the option to cancel your search or run another search in a new tab.



When your search is complete, in addition to your results, you’ll now see the total time taken for the search. For a Gmail search, you’ll also see the total number of accounts searched and the number of accounts searched per second. This will give you an idea of Vault's performance during the large search.


Simpler exports for Hangouts Chat
We’re also making it easier for organizations to export large amounts of Hangouts Chat data. Going forward, export data from Hangouts Chat will be condensed into a small number of files. Previously, you’d see one conversation per file; now you’ll see multiple conversations included in the same file, until the file size limit is reached.

For example, in the past, 100 conversations would be exported as 100 MBOX or PST files. With this launch, those same 100 conversations will be exported as just one or two MBOX or PST files, making it simpler to process the results.

In addition, each Chat conversation will continue to have metadata associated with it, but with two new fields: (1) type of conversation (direct message or room), and (2) conversation ownership (either the room name or a comma-separated list of accounts that participated in a direct message).

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

Editions:
Available to G Suite Business, Enterprise, and Education editions only, as well as G Suite users with the Vault add-on

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: What's new in Vault


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Earlier this month, we announced interoperability with SIP/H.323 standards based video conferencing systems and Skype for Business in Hangouts Meet through the Pexip Infinity Platform.

You can now enable this feature in the Admin console at Apps > G Suite > Google Hangouts and checking the box for “Turn on interoperability with other systems" under “Meet Settings.” After the feature is enabled and a token is generated, you will need a license from Pexip for the solution to work.

For complete instructions on enabling third-party interoperability and more information, visit the Help Center.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

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

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Turn interoperability with third-party systems on or off

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As a reminder, the automatic migration tool to transfer Google Sites from classic Sites to new Sites will start rolling out to end users on June 19. The tool makes it quicker and easier to move sites created in classic Sites to new Sites.

The tool automatically creates a draft of a classic site in new Sites. This new draft site will have the updated look and feel of new Sites, and contain the content from the classic site. When the new site is ready to go live, it can either be published to the URL of the classic site (to replace the original site and automatically redirect viewers), or published to a new URL.

For full details on the tool and how it works, see our announcement for the admin preview of the tool. You can also use our Help Center to find out more about how to convert a classic Site to a new Site and what to expect when you convert a site.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information 
G Suite Updates blog: Admin preview for Google Sites automatic conversion tool 
Help Center: How to convert a classic Site to a new Site 
Help Center: What to expect when you convert a site 

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To help Google Forms users create more personalized surveys, feedback forms, quizzes, and more, we’re introducing new theme customization options. Specifically, you can now choose colors and fonts to theme your form. This has been a top feature request from our users, who have asked for more options to create forms that match their organization or team branding. We hope these options help you build forms that look and feel just right.


Pick a theme and background color 

You can choose a color for your theme. When you choose a theme color, it will apply to your header background, titles, action buttons, and more. You can pick a predefined color, or a custom one. After you pick a theme color, you can select a complementary color for the background.

Use an image for the form header 

By default, the form header matches the theme color you select. If you want, you can change this and use an image to display in the header instead.

Customize the font style

You can pick from several font styles to apply to your form. When you pick a style, it will apply to your form title and question text.

New theme options for Google Forms

See our Help Center for more details on how to change the theme of your Google Form.


Launch Details 

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

Editions: 
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace: 
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact: 
All end users

Action: 
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information 
Help Center: Change the theme or font of your form


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Over the past year, we’ve announced that Jamboard, our cloud-based, collaborative whiteboard, is available for purchase in an ever-growing list of countries such as the United States, Canada, the UK, and select parts of Europe. We’re now expanding that list further, bringing Jamboard to Australia and New Zealand.

G Suite customers in Australia and New Zealand can now purchase Jamboard for $7,999 (AUD), which includes two styluses, an eraser, and a wall mount. See the table below for pricing.

Keep in mind that a G Suite license is required to use Jamboard so that you can access files from Drive, use them in your brainstorms, and come back to your work later.



G Suite customers based in Australia and New Zealand can contact their Google Cloud sales rep, our distributor, BenQ, or visit our website to learn more about how to start jamming with colleagues today.

Additional information about Jamboard
In addition to the Jamboard device, the Jamboard app is available on Android and iOS for all G Suite customers. When used on a tablet, the Jamboard app allows users to experience similar features as they would on the Jamboard device. On a smartphone, the app functions as a companion for the Jamboard device.

Usage of the Jamboard app is controlled by a service on/off switch in the Admin console, and is off by default.

Check out the Help Center for more information, including an FAQ section.

Launch Details
Release track:
Jamboard devices now available for purchase in Australia and New Zealand

Editions:
G Suite Basic, Business, Enterprise, and Education customers

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center
FAQ

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Notifications are only useful if you have time to read them—and if you’re being notified hundreds of times a day, chances are, you don’t. That’s why we’re introducing a feature that alerts you only when important emails land in your Gmail inbox, so you know when your attention is really required.


These notifications leverage Gmail’s machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities to identify messages you may want to read first. To enable the feature, select “High priority only” from the Notifications drop-down in the settings menu of your Gmail iOS app.

Available on iOS now and Android soon, we hope this feature makes your Gmail notifications relevant—not just noise.

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

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

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

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Change email notifications

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We’re giving G Suite admins more visibility into which computers are being used to access their corporate data and apps through a new feature called “Endpoint Verification.”

Endpoint Verification collects information via Chrome extensions and native apps on users’ devices, and displays that information to admins in a new report in the Admin console. It’s a lightweight and easy solution for desktop and laptop device reporting, and we hope this visibility empowers admins to maintain a strong security posture for their organization.

Endpoint Verification report provides desktop device information 

Endpoint Verification adds a new view in the Admin console. Once it is set up on user devices (see below), admins will be able to see:

• An inventory of desktop and laptop devices within the enterprise that access corporate data. 
• Device information including screen lock, disk encryption, and OS version. 

To see the report, open the Admin console and visit Device management > Endpoint Verification.

	Information available in the Admin console when Endpoint Verification is enabled

How to deploy Endpoint Verification in your organization 

Endpoint Verification is available for ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows devices. It requires a Chrome extension to be installed. On Windows and MacOS devices, it also needs a native app which works with the extension. Extensions and apps can be installed by users individually or deployed centrally. See our Help Center article for admins to see details on how to deploy Endpoint Verification.

End user experience of Endpoint Verification 

When the Endpoint Verification extension is installed on a user’s device, there will be a notification shown to users (see image below). The user will have to click “Agree” before data from their device is shown in the admin’s Endpoint Verification report. If the user does not click “Agree,” information about that device will not be shown. The user Help Center has information about Endpoint Verification and user devices.

Endpoint Verification notification shown to users when the extension first runs

Launch Details 

Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions: 
Available to all G Suite Editions 

Rollout pace: 
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact: 
Admins and end users

Action: 
Admin action suggested

More Information 
Admin Help Center: Monitor your Chrome users' computers 
End User Help Center: Allow an admin to monitor your computer


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(Cross-posted from The Keyword)

It’s easy to get used to doing things a certain way. This can be a good thing if you're prepping for the World Cup, where process, repetition and routine can make you a champion. But if you're like the rest of us who rely on certain workflows to get things done at work—like budgeting or filing expenses—“trusting the process” doesn’t always feel rewarding.

Today, we’re making App Maker generally available to help you rethink how your teams operate. App Maker is G Suite’s low-code application development environment that makes it easy for teams to build custom apps to speed up workflows and make processes better.

Apps to fill business gaps, built for your needs

Analysts estimate that the right custom mobile app can save each employee 7.5 hours per week (that’s a week’s worth of lunch breaks!). Yet, too few businesses have the means, let alone the resources, to invest time and effort in building custom apps. Why? Because their IT budget centers on big enterprise apps like CRM, ERP and SCM and beyond those priorities, IT executives’ attention focuses on security and governance.

App Maker was created to enable your line-of-business teams to build apps for the jobs these bigger apps don't tackle. With App Maker, you can shape company processes like requesting purchase orders, or you can speed up business workflows like filing and resolving help desk tickets, as if you designed and built the processes yourself.

“Pooling talent resources was always an ad hoc process, but App Maker let us quickly build an app that tracks allocation requests in detail.” 

Take Electronic Arts (EA) for example, a global interactive entertainment software company that makes games and more. To create many of its games, EA has to occasionally allocate staff resources to different projects—whether it’s a designer needed on a new game project or an HR consultant to advise on setting up a studio. EA’s IT department used App Maker to create a custom app to streamline capital resourcing.

“Pooling talent resources was always an ad hoc process, but App Maker let us quickly build an app that tracks allocation requests in detail,” says Peter McAuley, director of IT at EA. “Our custom app also calculates and provides management with a view of total resource utilization by month, something which was always more of a chore to put together manually.”

Over the last few months, we've worked closely with customers and partners around the world, including EA, Colgate-Palmolive, SADA Systems and more, to build apps to solve specific business needs.



Powerful new database model and governance

Since launching App Maker in our Early Adopter Program, we've made changes and added new features to make it even better for our customers.

• Open: App Maker now offers built-in support for Cloud SQL (GCP account required), offering high performance, scalability and convenience. It also supports a Bring Your Own Database (“BYODB”) model, letting you connect it to your own database using JDBC or a REST API.

• Fast: Responsive templates, samples, a drag-and-drop UI design and declarative data modeling make it easier for IT developers, or anyone who wants to automate work, to design and build apps even faster.

• Connected: Whether it’s Gmail, Calendar or Sheets, App Maker makes it a cinch to connect with the data and services you need, all while making your apps more powerful. Plus, you can use Apps Script to access over 40 Google services, Google Cloud Platform and other third-party services that support JDBC and REST.

• Managed: In the coming weeks, G Suite administrators will have visibility over the apps running in their organization including owners, usage metrics and OAuth permissions. Expanded OAuth Whitelisting controls mean administrators will also be able to prevent apps from running without their approval. Learn more.

Get started

App Maker is now available to all G Suite Business and Enterprise customers, as well as G Suite for Education customers. Learn more, or see how you can get started with documentation and this codelab. We can’t wait to see what your companies build with it.

Additional details for G Suite admins

App Maker is now turned on for your G Suite Business, Enterprise, Education, or Enterprise for Education domain, unless you’re a K–12 G Suite for Education customer or you’ve chosen to manually opt in to new services. If App Maker isn’t yet enabled for your eligible domain, you can turn it on in the Apps > Additional Google services section of the Admin console.

App Maker comes with built-in support for Google Cloud SQL, which requires a Google Cloud Platform account. To set up Cloud SQL for your domain, follow the steps outlined in this Help Center article. You can also connect App Maker to your own database using JDBC or a REST API.

As a G Suite admin, you can manage the use of App Maker in your domain. For example, you can view the activity of users creating App Maker apps using the Drive audit logs, or view the activity of end users of App Maker apps in the OAuth Token audit logs. For more information on the management capabilities available to G Suite admins, visit the Help Center.

App Maker is now an additional Google service, but it offers 24x7 technical support and service-level commitments. It is also compliant with ISO 27001 and SOC (1, 2, 3) and offers accessibility features to help meet the needs of your users.

At launch, however, App Maker is not ISO 27017 and 27018 compliant. Please note that this corrects our previous communication. 

For more information on App Maker, check out the Help Center.

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

Editions:
Available to G Suite Business, Enterprise, Education, and Enterprise for Education editions only

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

Impact:
Admins and end users

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: App Maker
Help Center: Manage App Maker in your domain
App Maker site
App Maker developers guide


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Earlier this year, we introduced an all-new version of Tasks―where you can keep track of your daily tasks, organize multiple lists, and track important deadlines with mobile and web applications―to the G Suite product offering. On June 28, 2018, Tasks will launch as a standalone G Suite core service. Since Tasks was previously available as a feature of Gmail and Calendar to all domains, Tasks will launch ON by default, but it can be turned off at any time in the Admin console under Apps > G Suite.

As a G Suite core service, Tasks will be covered under your existing G Suite agreement and will offer the same technical support and service level commitments as any other core service.



Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release on June 28, 2018

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

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

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center:Turn Tasks on and off for users
Help Center: How to use Google Tasks
The Keyword: With new security and intelligent features, the new Gmail means business

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