Starting November 27th, 2018, we’ll make some small changes to the appearance of the Google sign-in page. These follow changes made earlier this year, which updated the sign-in page to match the Material Design principles used in other Google products.

Specifically, you might notice outlines around some entry fields, and changes to the spacing and styling of other text on both the web and mobile screens. The changes will start to take effect on November 27th and may take up to two weeks to reach all users.

See the new sign-in UI 

Sign-in page that will start rolling out on November 27, 2018

Sign-in page prior to November 27, 2018

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: 
All end users

Action: 
Change management suggested/FYI

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

When it comes to protecting online accounts, a strong password is the first line of defense. As such, organizations have various stipulations for their users’ passwords. G Suite admins can already specify minimum and maximum length limits for passwords for their users. With this launch, we’re making it possible to enforce additional rigorous password requirements for increased security and to meet their compliance needs.

Going forward, an admin can do the following:

Require that users set a strong password. 

Admins can already see which passwords in their domain are weak; enabling this setting will allow admins to force users with weak passwords to change them. Direct your users to this Help Center article for tips on creating a strong password. Note that this setting is OFF by default.

Control when password length and strength requirements go into effect. 

You can choose to enforce password length and strength requirements either the next time a user changes their password or the next time they log in. The default is to start enforcement the next time a user changes their password. To change it, check the box next to “Start password policy enforcement at next sign in.” 

Prompt users to change their passwords after a certain number of days. 

If you’re unsure about whether or not you need to do this, we recommend you leave this setting as “Never.”

Prevent users from reusing old passwords. 

To prevent password reuse, we recommend you leave the box for “Allow password reuse” unchecked. This is the default.
Each of these settings can be found in the Admin console under Security > Password management. As part of the launch we are also moving the password length (minimum and maximum) settings from the Basic Settings card to this new Password management card. For 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: 
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact: 
Admins and end users

Action: 
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information 
Help Center: Manage your users' password settings


Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

We’ve made it easier for you to open the Activity dashboard directly from Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings. You’ll now see the Activity dashboard icon (a jagged arrow pointing upward) next to the comments button in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Clicking on the icon opens the dashboard, where you can analyze time statistics and adjust privacy and document settings. This gives you instant access to the Activity dashboard information you’re seeking. Hovering over the icon enables you to view the information others can see about you in the Activity dashboard. To learn more about seeing the view history of your Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files, consult 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: 
Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information 
Help Center: See the view history of your Google Docs, Sheets & Slides

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

With this launch, we’re making it easier for you to create—and for your users to find—the Android apps they need at work.

Group and order apps in the managed Google Play store

To help your users find the apps they need, you can now group whitelisted Android apps into “collections” that users will see in the managed Google Play store. For example, you can create a collection for frequently used apps or one for apps related to expenses. You can then change the order in which those collections appear, as well as the order of apps within those collections.

You can do all of this without leaving the Admin console; visit the Help Center for detailed instructions. Note that this feature is only available to customers with advanced mobile device management enabled.


Create private apps quickly and easily in the Admin console

We know that creating a private app in the Google Play Console can be time-consuming and often requires unnecessary steps. To streamline that process, we’re now making it possible to publish a private Android app directly from the Admin console.

You no longer need to create a Play Console account, provide a credit card, or fill in irrelevant fields; simply upload the APK and give the app a title (see full instructions here). The app will then appear in the managed Play store within minutes—as opposed to the hours previously required.

Note that this feature is also only available to customers with advanced mobile device management enabled.


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 and end users

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Organize Android apps into collections
Help Center: Manage Google Play private apps

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

We’re adding a new way to invite people to an ongoing meeting directly within Hangouts Meet. When you’re in a Meet meeting, you’ll now see an option to “Add people” at the top of the participant list.

Add people directly from the call

Clicking on this option will open a dialog box to send them an email invite to join as a full participant or call them into the meeting by phone.

To invite someone into your meeting, simply input their email address or lookup by name from the company directory.The invited participant will receive an email with instructions to join your meeting.

Enter the person's name, email address, or phone number

As always, inviting someone using their phone number will immediately call the phone number to to add them to the meeting. They will join as an audio only participant and will not see any video or the screenshare.

For more information on inviting people to Meet meetings, check out the Help Center.

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: Invite people

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Last year, we introduced a new resource for admins: What’s new in G Suite? Don’t forget to visit the page regularly for a list of the most recent launches across G Suite.

Feedback? Let us know.

Before you perform a search of Gmail messages in Google Vault, you can see the number of results that your search criteria will return—helping you plan next steps and establish resources for review. Going forward, in addition to the total number of results, you’ll also see the number of accounts with matches. You can then download a list of those accounts and the number of messages that match each. This can help you determine the key custodians involved in an investigation. (Note that this feature is only available when searching Gmail messages.)



Programmatically save your search queries with the Vault Matters API

In addition to the feature above, we’re making it possible for admins to programmatically read, create, and delete saved search queries with the Vault Matters API. This will allow you to quickly and easily copy search parameters from one matter to another, saving you valuable time.

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

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

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

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: How does the count feature work?

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

We’re making it easier to copy formatting from one object (like a block of text or a shape) to multiple others in Google Slides. Previously, you could use the paint format tool to copy formatting from one object to another, but you’d need to reclick it every time you wanted to apply it to a new object. Now, you can simply double-click the tool icon to enter “persistent” mode and apply that formatting to multiple objects in a slide. Just re-click the icon or tap Escape on your keyboard to stop.



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:
All end users

Action: 
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Copy and paste text and images

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Over the next few months, we’ll completely replace old Google Contacts with new Google Contacts (also known as Contacts preview).

We launched new Contacts in 2015 to provide a modern, smart, and quick contact management experience. We’ve added many features since then and, with the recent launch of contacts delegation, new Contacts now has many comparable features from old Contacts, and more.

As a result, new Contacts will replace the older version, and it will be the only Google Contacts version after February 12, 2019. The replacement process will take place in three stages:

Stage 1: New admin-controlled defaults and user options

On November 28, 2018, we’ll change the Admin console setting that controls new Contacts. Currently, there’s a checkbox to enable new Contacts for your users. If you enable it, your users are moved to new Contacts but can opt out. On November 28, this setting will change to formally define a default version of Contacts for your organization. Your current setting will determine the impact of this change:

• If you currently have new Contacts preview enabled, new Contacts will be the default and there will be no change for your users. Your users will stay using new Contacts with the option to revert back to old Contacts. If they previously opted out of new Contacts preview, they’ll remain opted out until stage 2 (see below).
• If you don’t currently have new Contacts preview enabled, old Contacts will be the default but users will get a new option to try new Contacts. None of your users will be automatically upgraded to new Contacts, but all users will be able to opt in to new Contacts individually if they choose.

You can find and change the setting in the Admin console at Apps > G Suite > Directory > Sharing settings > Contacts Preview.

Stage 2: All users upgraded to new Contacts, with the option to opt out

On January 15, 2019, new Contacts will automatically become the default version in your domain and we will remove the Admin console setting. When this happens, all users still using old Contacts will be moved to new Contacts. You won’t be able to change this for your organization, but individual users will still be able to revert back to old Contacts if they want until stage 3 (see below).

Stage 3: All users upgraded to new Contacts, old Contacts turned off

On February 12, 2019, old Contacts will be turned off completely, and any remaining users will be moved to new Contacts. There will be no option to use the old version.

Launch Details
Release track:
All stages 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) for all stages

Impact:
Admins and end users

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI


Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates