Tag Archives: apps

Contacts delegates can now update labels and manage “Other” contacts

What’s changing 

We’re updating the functionality for delegated users to manage contact labels on behalf of their delegator via contacts.google.com. While this functionality was previously available in Gmail, they can now be managed directly at the source: Contacts. This will happen in two phases: 


Beginning this month, delegators will be prompted to review and re-approve access for their existing delegates. If existing delegates are not re-approved before July 2023, they will lose access to manage contacts. See below for guidance.




Additionally, Admins can make these adjustments for users in their domain using the Admin SDK API to remove and re-add the contacts delegate privilege.


Beginning July 2023,  all users who have been approved or assigned as Contacts delegates will be able to update labels and manage Other contacts.  


Who’s impacted

Admins and end users


Why it’s important

For many of our customers, administrative support for managing inboxes is business critical — this includes making sure that contacts are properly sorted and labeled. 

Getting started


Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers

Resources

Enable your users to report inappropriate messages for review

What’s changing

For select Google Workspace customers, admins can enable content reporting for their Google Chat users. Once a user has flagged a message, admins can find more information about the incident in the Security Investigation Tool and decide whether further action is needed. This feature is available for Google Chat on the web and mobile devices.

Admins can turn content reporting on for 1:1 messages, group messages, or messages in spaces, and select which reporting categories are available for their users, such as harassment or rude behavior, sensitive information, and more. Admins can also customize the language in the reporting dialog box to educate users about next steps following the report submission.

When you turn content reporting on, you can select which reporting categories to show to your users and which conversation types content reporting is available for.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users 


Why it’s important

Effective collaboration in the modern workplace requires a sense of psychological safety for users and appropriate protections for sensitive business data. Content reporting in Google Chat enables users the opportunity to report inappropriate messages for review. This can include anything from offensive , discriminatory or explicit content, sensitive data that should not be shared (personal or proprietary), and more. This is critical for our customers, especially those of larger organizations and in regulated industries, to stay on top of potential abuse and inappropriate use of Chat in their organization. 


Further, admins can use the Security Investigation Tool Administrator to decide whether data protection rules need to be created to proactively prevent similar messages from being shared in the future.

In the Security Investigation Tool, you can search for reported messages, view additional conversation information, and see the chat transcript for more context.




Along with recent updates such as managing Google Chat spaces in the admin console, we hope this feature helps admins manage Chat across their organization.


Getting started

Reporting a message on the web

 
Reporting a message on a mobile device


Rollout pace



Availability

  • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers

Resources






Set expirations for files in shared drives using Google Drive API

What’s changing

Last year, we announced the ability to set expiring access when sharing files in My Drive. To expand upon this, we’re adding the option to set expirations on files that reside in shared drives using the Google Drive API. 

Specifically, developers will now be able to fully control file expirations via the API (creating, reading, updating, deleting), and users will be able to see, but not edit file expirations in the sharing dialog. 
Set expirations for files in shared drives using Google Drive API

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • Developers: Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting an expiration date for file access. 
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default and cannot be disabled. If an expiring access has been set by a developer in your domain, you will automatically see it in the sharing dialog. 

Rollout pace 

  • This feature is available now. 

Availability 

  • Available to Google Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Education Plus customers 
  • Not available to Essentials Starter, Business Starter, Frontline Starter, Frontline Standard, and Nonprofits 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Adding new capabilities to timeline view in Google Sheets

What’s changing

Last year, we introduced an interactive timeline view that allows you to track projects in Google Sheets. The timeline view enables you to easily interact with project information and can help you manage things like marketing campaigns, project milestones, schedules, cross-team collaboration, and more. 

Today, we’re adding the following capabilities to expand the timeline view feature: 
  • Enhanced formatting options, including card text truncation and the undo/redo option 
  • A card collapsed view that enables you to merge cards into a single row for each card group 
  • Print and download support 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: To create a timeline, navigate to Insert > timeline > select a data range > configure the attributes in the timeline settings sidebar. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Timeline View. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers 
  • Not available to Nonprofits, Frontline Starter, and Frontline Standard customers 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Extending client-side encryption to chat messages in Google Meet

What’s changing 

If you’re using client-side encryption for Meet, in-meeting chat will now be supported. As with the audio and video content of your client-side encrypted meetings, all in-meeting chat messages will be encrypted and inaccessible by any third party, including Google. 

Meet already encrypts all of your data at rest and in transit between our facilities — client-side encryption gives users direct control of their encryption keys and the identity service that they choose to authenticate for those keys. For more information, see our original announcement.


Getting started


Rollout pace

  • Rapid Release domains:  Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 24, 2023
  • Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 26, 2023

Availability

  • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers hosting client-side encrypted calls 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, The Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources 


Simplify workflows in Google Docs with variable chips

What’s changing

Earlier this year, we shared innovations in smart canvas that help you simplify workflows and complete common tasks with easy-to-use prompts in Google Docs. Today, we’re introducing variable chips, a new feature that makes document creation for things like invoices, contracts, or broader communications much easier. 

Simply pre-define and insert placeholders such as a client name, contract number, or an address, and then update it throughout an entire document by editing the value in one place. Using variables as dynamic placeholders makes template creation more straightforward, whether that is through custom building blocks or using the document as a template. 
Simplify workflows in Google Docs with variable chips

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials Starter, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline Starter, and Frontline Standard 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – May 19, 2023

6 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), 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), and available to all Google Workspace customers.


Improve time management and display time with new chips in Google Docs
In addition to the recent introduction of new smart canvas features in Google Sheets and Google Docs, we’re adding new timer chips that can be used to timebox activities and ensure that you’re using your time productively.
Timer chips
To more finely represent time, we’re also adding a time-of-day chip to Google Docs. By typing “@today" you can add the date and then select "Set time" to add the time to the date chip.
Time-of-day-chips
Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for May 31, 2023. | Learn more about inserting smart chips & building blocks in your Google Doc.


Use alternative text for visual content on Google Sites
Google Sites editors are now able to add or edit alt text on inserted images and add or edit alt text on background images, making their Sites more readable by everyone. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for May 30, 2023. | Learn more about making your site more accessible. 




Enhancing our web onboarding experience in Google Chat to help users get started quicker 
To build upon recent Google Chat improvements and help organizations use Chat more efficiently, we’re revamping the web onboarding experience for those new to Chat. When using Chat in Gmail or visiting chat.google.com for the first time, you will see options to start a chat, join a space, or browse apps. If you select the first option to send a direct message to a colleague or group, the simpler chat creation options will appear. Choosing to join a space will display a new browsing experience, and the Chat apps option will show you how apps work and the ways to find and add apps. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for June 5th 2023. 
New web onboarding experience in Google Chat

Spellcheck for client-side encrypted files in Google Slides
If you’re working in a client-side encrypted file in Google Slides, you’ll now see spelling suggestions as you type. You can see suggestions for misspelled words (indicated by a red wavy underline) by accessing the menu (Tools > Spelling > Spell check) or right- or left-clicking on the word. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers only. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for May 30, 2023. | Learn more about encrypted files in Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides. 
Spell check for client-side encrypted files in Google Slides

Export client-side encrypted spreadsheets to Excel files
Google Sheets files that are client-side encrypted can now be exported as an Excel file. This means you'll continue to protect your files with encryption, but convert your files as needed. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about encrypted files in Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides. 
Export client-side encrypted spreadsheets to Excel files

AppSheet-powered no-code apps in Google Chat
This announcement was made at Google I/O ‘23. Visit the Workspace Blog to learn more about building workflows across Google Workspace to connect user experiences across apps. You can now create Google Chat apps without code in AppSheet to build integrations or workflows that suit the needs of your organization. | Available now to all Google Workspace customers with an AppSheet Starter, Core, or Enterprise plan. | Learn more about Chat apps. 
AppSheet-powered no-code apps in Google Chat


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.


Improving Calendar Interoperability
Recent improvements to Calendar Interoperability include: Microsoft Outlook users who also have a Google Calendar with the same email address can receive Google Calendar invitations and RSVPs in Outlook, a default meeting reminder will be generated in Microsoft Outlook if the invitation was created in Google Calendar to help make sure guests using Outlook do not miss events, and non-Google Calendar recurring events will be more systematically and accurately updated in Google Calendar. | Learn more about Calendar Interoperability improvements. 


New membership limits for Google Groups
We've increased the limits for the number of direct and indirect group memberships for which a user can have: Direct: 3,000 memberships (increasing from 2,000) and Combined direct and indirect: 7,500 memberships (increasing from 5,000). | Learn more about new membership limits for Google Groups.


Easily expand and collapse content in Google Docs
We introduced a new feature that helps you minimize and expand sections within Google Docs. This collapsible headings function makes it easier to consume content by enabling you to hide portions of larger documents more easily. | Learn more about expand/collapse in Google Docs.


Create custom building blocks in Google Docs
This feature enables you to save custom blocks of text, tables, and chips to build reusable components. For example, you might create a project kickoff template to track milestones and tasks, a product launch checklist, or even a block of code or text that’s commonly used within your organization. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits only. | Learn more about custom building blocks in Docs.


React to messages quickly in Google Chat
We've added quick reactions in Chat, which displays your most frequently used emojis upon hovering over a message. You'll also see options to open the full emoji picker, reply in a thread, quote in reply and more. | Learn more about quick reactions in Google Chat.


Monitor abuse related events in the Alert Center
Admins will now receive alerts related to abuse related events in their organization. This includes events related to content that has been marked abusive or user access restrictions to apps. | Learn more about monitoring abuse related events in the Alert Center.


Complete data-driven tasks faster with new smart chip data extraction in Google Sheets
You will now be able to quickly extract information from smart chips for advanced sorting, filtering and analysis to drive your projects forward. | Learn more about smart chip data extraction in Google Sheets.


Collaborate with others on Google Calendar invites in Google Docs
We've introduced a building block that lets you collaborate with others to draft calendar invites. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits only. | Learn more about drafting calendar events from Google Docs. 



Completed rollouts

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


Rapid Release Domains:
Scheduled Release Domains:

Collaborate with others on Google Calendar invites in Google Docs

What’s changing

Following our most recent innovations in smart canvas with custom building blocks and collapsible headings in Google Docs, we’re adding a building block that lets you collaborate with others to draft calendar invites. 


This can be useful when several stakeholders have inputs for dates, times, attendees, event descriptions and more. Similar to the email draft template, once the invitation is complete, simply click the Calendar icon to pull the details into Google Calendar when you’re ready to send. 
Collaborate with others on Google Calendar invites in Google Docs

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: You must have edit access to a Google Doc to use this feature. Simply open a document, type "@" and “Calendar event draft” > hit enter. You can also go to Insert> Building blocks> Calendar event draft. Visit the Help Center to learn more about drafting calendar events from Google Docs. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials Starter, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline Starter, and Frontline Standard
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Complete data-driven tasks faster with new smart chip data extraction in Google Sheets

What’s changing

In continuing our efforts to help you deliver more with smart canvas, we recently introduced additional smart chip functionality in Google Sheets. Building upon this, you’ll also be able to quickly extract information from smart chips for advanced sorting, filtering and analysis to drive your projects forward. 

With smart chip data extraction, you can enrich your Sheets with information from people, file, and events chips. More specifically, this feature allows you to pull out metadata associated with specific smart chips into its own cell, while maintaining a connection with the chip it was extracted from. 


For example, if you need to keep track of a set of documents, their owners and details, such as creation time or who last modified the file, you can do so by extracting those fields from the relevant file chips as shown below. 
Sheets Data Extraction from Smart Chips

You can keep your extractions up to date by navigating to the “Refresh & manage” section of the extraction sidebar to update your data and reflect the latest changes. 

Who’s impacted 

End users 

Why you’d use it 

Smart chip data extraction allows you to track and organize data more easily, and also perform deeper analyses using data that is derived from smart chips. Useful actions include using file chips to understand when a document was last updated or using people chips to sort and filter employees based on job location to best delegate region specific tasks. 

Additional details 

You can also nest arrays of chip extractions to perform more complex analyses. The example below uses a range of people chips in B3:B11 to count the number of unique office locations for nine different individuals. Example formula extraction across range of people chips 
Example formula extraction across range of people chips

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • To perform sidebar extraction: 
      • Open the data extractions sidebar (via either the Data menu, right clicking on a cell/range with people, event or file chips and navigating to "Data extractions," or clicking on the "Data extractions" link in people, event or file hover cards) 
      • Select the range that contains the chips you want to extract data from 
      • Choose what data you want to extract from the selected chips 
      • Pick the range where you want the data to be extracted to 
    • To perform formula extraction: 
      • Start by typing = in a cell where you want the information extracted 
      • Navigate to the cell or range with chips in them and select it 
      • Add a period after the cell or range of cells and choose from the autocomplete what to extract 
      • Accept the dialog confirming what will be extracted 
    • To refresh data in the data extraction sidebar: 
      • Open the extraction sidebar 
      • Click Refresh & manage 
      • Find the smart chips data you want to refresh 
      • Click Refresh data 
      • To refresh all smart chips data, click Refresh all at the bottom of the sidebar. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about extracting data from smart chips in your Google Sheets. 

Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 17, 2023 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 14, 2023 

Availability 

Extraction of data already stored in chips (Name and Email for people chips. MIME Type, URL, File Name for file chips. URL and Summary for event chips.) 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 
Extraction of all available data (See Help Center for all available fields): 
  • Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade
  • Not available to Essentials Starter, Business Starter, Frontline Starter, Frontline Standard, and Nonprofits
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources 

Monitor abuse related events in the Alert Center

What’s changing 

Admins will now receive alerts related to abuse related events in their organization. This includes events related to content that has been marked abusive or user access restrictions to apps. 


This update makes it easier for admins to stay on top of abuse within their accounts, and easily take necessary action such as suspending users or restricting access to certain services. 

Admins will be alerted via email of abuse related events and can find more information in the Alert Center



Getting started

  • Admins: 
  • End users: There is no end user action required. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers

Resources