Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 19, 2025

A summary of announcements from the last week:

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

Accelerate validation of Google Meet eCDN configuration at scale with Silent Test Mode

We are introducing Silent Test mode, a new offering that lets you run a large-scale eCDN (Enterprise Content Delivery Network) test with your users and devices, across your entire network, while minimizing any risk of impacting the viewer experience. | Learn more about accelerating validation of Google Meet eCDN configuration at scale with Silent Test Mode.

Share stereo sound with audio content in Google Meet

Presenters will now be able to share stereo sound when presenting content with stereo audio in Google Meet. During virtual meetings, presenters often share content with audio, such as music before a meeting starts, videos for review or discussion during the meeting, and more. | Learn more about sharing stereo sound with audio content in Google Meet.

Share your device’s audio when presenting in Google Meet

Sharing your screen is an essential part of collaborating and presenting in Google Meet. Often, you may also want to share audio as part of your presentation. We’re excited to announce that you can now share your device audio when presenting a specific window or your entire screen. | Learn more about sharing your device’s audio when presenting in Google Meet.

Keep your team informed: Introducing the Feeds app for Google Chat

We’re excited to introduce the new Feeds app for  Google Chat. This app makes it simple for teams to bring important, real-time external updates—such as news, blog posts, and industry research from any Atom or RSS feed—directly into their group conversations and spaces. | Learn more about the new Feeds app for Google Chat.

Block messages from unknown senders in Google Chat

We’re introducing a new setting in Google Chat that gives users more control over who can invite them to 1:1 conversations and spaces. While the default setting allows invitations from anyone, users can now choose to restrict incoming requests to known senders only. | Learn more about blocking messages from unknown senders in Google Chat.

Our best avatars in Google Vids yet, now powered by Veo 3.1

Earlier this year we launched AI avatars in Google Vids to streamline video creation, and today we’re excited to announce that our avatars are now powered by Veo 3.1, Google’s state-of-the-art video generation model. | Learn more about the new avatars in Google Vids, now powered by Veo 3.1.

Introducing Gemini 3 Flash for the Gemini app

Introducing Gemini 3 Flash, our latest model with frontier intelligence built for speed, in the Gemini app. It delivers next-generation intelligence at lightning speeds.Built on the foundation of Gemini 3, our most intelligent model, 3 Flash is designed to get answers now, make light work of daily tasks, and connect to the real world instantly. | Learn more about Gemini 3 Flash for the Gemini app.

Google AI Ultra for Business plan adds enhanced NotebookLM experience

Specifically designed for organizations with high demand research needs, Google AI Ultra for Business, an add-on plan for Workspace customers, provides teams with the highest-tier access to Gemini models, unparalleled feature limits, and the capacity to handle the most intricate models. | Learn more about the enhanced NotebookLM experience in the Google AI Ultra for Business plan.

Google AI Ultra for Business plan adds enhanced NotebookLM experience

Specifically designed for organizations with high demand research needs, Google AI Ultra for Business, an add-on plan for Workspace customers, provides teams with the highest-tier access to Gemini models, unparalleled feature limits, and the capacity to handle the most intricate models. Now, Google AI Ultra for Business users can access an enhanced NotebookLM experience. NotebookLM, a research and thinking partner, gives you: 

  • Highest access to Gemini’s models
  • Highest feature limits for the features you know and love like Audio & Video Overviews, Slide Decks, and more
  • Largest notebook size with the most number of sources per notebook
  • Priority access to features like the Long option for Slide Decks and the removal of watermarks on Slide Decks and Infographics
Refer to Turn NotebookLM on or off for users for a detailed overview.

Getting started

  • Admins: NotebookLM is ON by default and can be disabled at the domain, OU, or group level. Visit the Help Center to learn more.
  • End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. Google AI Ultra for Business licensed users will see the “Ultra” badge in the upper right corner in NotebookLM. Visit the Help Center to learn more.

Rollout pace

  • Available now

Availability

  • Google AI Ultra for Business add-on

Resources

Goodbye Mobile Only, Hello Adaptive: Three essential updates from 2025 for building adaptive apps

Posted by Fahd Imtiaz – Product Manager, Android Developer




Goodbye Mobile Only, Hello Adaptive: Three essential updates from 2025 for building adaptive apps


In 2025 the Android ecosystem has grown far beyond the phone. Today, developers have the opportunity to reach over 500 million active devices, including foldables, tablets, XR, Chromebooks, and compatible cars.


These aren't just additional screens; they represent a higher-value audience. We’ve seen that users who own both a phone and a tablet spend 9x more on apps and in-app purchases than those with just a phone. For foldable users, that average spend jumps to roughly 14x more*.


This engagement signals a necessary shift in development: goodbye mobile apps, hello adaptive apps.





To help you build for that future, we spent this year releasing tools that make adaptive the default way to build. Here are three key updates from 2025 designed to help you build these experiences.


Standardizing adaptive behavior with Android 16


To support this shift, Android 16 introduced significant changes to how apps can restrict orientation and resizability. On displays of at least 600dp, manifest and runtime restrictions are ignored, meaning apps can no longer lock themselves to a specific orientation or size. Instead, they fill the entire display window, ensuring your UI scales seamlessly across portrait and landscape modes. 


Because this means your app context will change more frequently, it’s important to verify that you are preserving UI state during configuration changes. While Android 16 offers a temporary opt-out to help you manage this transition, Android 17 (SDK37) will make this behavior mandatory. To ensure your app behaves as expected under these new conditions, use the resizable emulator in Android Studio to test your adaptive layouts today. 

Supporting screens beyond the tablet with Jetpack WindowManager 1.5.0

As devices evolve, our existing definitions of "large" need to evolve with them. In October, we released Jetpack WindowManager 1.5.0 to better support the growing number of very large screens and desktop environments.


On these surfaces, the standard "Expanded" layout, which usually fits two panes comfortably, often isn't enough. On a 27-inch monitor, two panes can look stretched and sparse, leaving valuable screen real estate unused. To solve this, WindowManager 1.5.0 introduced two new width window size classes: Large (1200dp to 1600dp) and Extra-large (1600dp+).





These new breakpoints signal when to switch to high-density interfaces. Instead of stretching a typical list-detail view, you can take advantage of the width to show three or even four panes simultaneously.  Imagine an email client that comfortably displays your folders, the inbox list, the open message, and a calendar sidebar, all in a single view. Support for these window size classes was added to Compose Material 3 adaptive in the 1.2 release. 


Rethinking user journeys with Jetpack Navigation 3


Building a UI that morphs from a single phone screen to a multi-pane tablet layout used to require complex state management.  This often meant forcing a navigation graph designed for single destinations to handle simultaneous views. First announced at I/O 2025, Jetpack Navigation 3 is now stable, introducing a new approach to handling user journeys in adaptive apps.


Built for Compose, Nav3 moves away from the monolithic graph structure. Instead, it provides decoupled building blocks that give you full control over your back stack and state. This solves the single source of truth challenge common in split-pane layouts. Because Nav3 uses the Scenes API, you can display multiple panes simultaneously without managing conflicting back stacks, simplifying the transition between compact and expanded views.


A foundation for an adaptive future



This year delivered the tools you need, from optimizing for expansive  layouts to the granular controls of WindowManager and Navigation 3. And, Android 16 began the shift toward truly flexible UI, with updates coming next year to deliver excellent adaptive experiences across all form factors. To learn more about adaptive development principles and get started, head over to d.android.com/adaptive-apps. 


The tools are ready, and the users are waiting. We can’t wait to see what you build!


*Source: internal Google data