Tag Archives: Gmail

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – February 17, 2023

2 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 and G Suite customers.


360 degree video backgrounds available for Google Meet on mobile
Adding to our existing library of immersive backgrounds, Meet users on mobile can use several new 360 degree video backgrounds. These backgrounds—which include a beach and a temple—use your device's gyroscope to create a dynamic experience that moves with you. Note that Admins can turn backgrounds on or off for their users. | Available on Android and iOS devices for all Google Workspace users and users with personal Google Accounts. 
Editable widgets now available for Chat app cards 
Developers can now include interactive widgets like checkboxes, radio buttons, and dropdowns in Chat app cards that are posted in the Chat message stream. This will allow you to quickly modify information sent from Chat apps, such as: 
  • Changing the assignee on a task card or changing the due date on a task card
  • Selecting or deselecting options on a card
This feature is available now to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only.



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.


New setting for content managers to modify shared drives now on by default
Last December, we announced an upcoming shared drive setting for content managers to modify shared drives. Starting today, all content managers will have the ability to share folders by default, in addition to their current capabilities of editing, reorganizing, and deleting shared drive content. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more. 


Client-side encryption for Google Calendar is now generally available
Client-side encryption for Google Calendar is now generally available to eligible Workspace editions. Additionally, based on feedback from beta, we’ve extended client-side encryption to support Key Migration and Google Takeout. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers only. | Learn more.


Improving accessibility of the “connect device” feature on Google Meet hardware devices
We’re updating the home screen on Series On Desk 27 and Board 65 devices to feature a “Connect device” button as a quick action. | Learn more. 


Google Calendar and Assistant Reminders will migrate to Google Tasks soon
As previously announced, in the coming months, we’ll migrate Reminders from Google Calendar and Google Assistant to Google Tasks to create a single experience for managing to-dos across Google. | Learn more.


Improving the Google Contact management experience
We’re introducing a new feature available in the Google Contacts sidebar that lets you create new contacts and edit existing contacts. Whether you want to edit contacts faster or create contacts more easily, this update streamlines the contact management experience. | Learn more. 


Control the visibility of warning banners in Gmail with a new admin control
We’re giving admins more control over whether warning banners for incoming email messages are displayed for their end users. Specifically, admins can choose to disable spam filters and hide warning banners for: All users and a specific allowlist of senders. | Learn more. 


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:
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

Control the visibility of warning banners in Gmail with a new admin control

What’s changing

We’re giving admins more control over whether warning banners for incoming email messages are displayed for their end users. Specifically, admins can chose to disable spam filters and hide warning banners for:

  • All users
  • A specific allowlist of senders

These settings can be found in the Admin console at:
Apps > Google Workspace > Settings for Gmail > Spam, Phishing, and Malware > Add Another Rule 




You may consider turning off these warnings when conducting anti-phishing training with your end users. These new options provide more flexibility around the visibility of these warnings across your organization however you choose to configure them. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: Warning banners can be turned on or off at the domain and OU level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to add custom spam filters to Gmail.
  • End users: No action required — your admin configuration will determine whether you see spam warning banners in Gmail. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers 
  • Not available to legacy G Suite basic and Business customers
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – January 27, 2023

2 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 and G Suite customers.


Rollout update for the new Gmail user interface
Beginning today, the new Gmail user interface is rolling out for scheduled release domains, with anticipated completion by February 3, 2023. This will become the standard experience for Gmail, with no option to revert to the original UI. For more information, see our previous announcement.

Display space names when granting access to files 
When sharing a Google Drive file to a space in Google Chat, you will now see the space name and associated image if you are a member of the space. If you are not a member of the space, but would still like to share a file to that space, the space name will show as “Private Space.” 

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.


Check availability across multiple calendars when using appointment schedules on Google Calendar
We’ve introduced the ability to check and see a visual preview of multiple calendars when setting up your appointment schedules. Your booking page will show you as unavailable when you’re busy based on the calendars you choose. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more. 

Easily share access to presented content in Google Meet with all attendees
We’ve made two improvements which will make file sharing in Google Meet even easier. First, you can now share access to the content you’re presenting in a meeting with attendees, including everyone on the Calendar guest list, directly from Meet. Second, whenever you paste a link into the meeting chat, you’ll be prompted with the file access dialog — from here you can adjust access as needed and choose to attach the file to the calendar event. | Learn more.

Improved membership management for spaces
We’ve introduced a new fullscreen experience for managing members in a space that replaces the current "View members" and “Add people and apps” options in Google Chat. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Frontline customers only. | Learn more. 

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 and Scheduled Release Domains:

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

Google Vault support for client-side encrypted emails

What’s changing 

Vault now supports retention, search, and export of client-side encrypted emails. Note that admins can't preview the email body and attachments, including inline images — they’ll only be able to see the subject line, sender, and receiver. 


Google Workspace already uses the latest cryptographic standards to encrypt all data at rest and in transit between our customers and Google facilities. Client-side encryption helps strengthen the confidentiality of your data while helping to address a broad range of data sovereignty and compliance needs. Visit the Help Center for more information on client-side encryption and our original announcement regarding client-side encryption for Gmail. 


Getting started


Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources 

Google Vault support for client-side encrypted emails

What’s changing 

Vault now supports retention, search, and export of client-side encrypted emails. Note that admins can't preview the email body and attachments, including inline images — they’ll only be able to see the subject line, sender, and receiver. 


Google Workspace already uses the latest cryptographic standards to encrypt all data at rest and in transit between our customers and Google facilities. Client-side encryption helps strengthen the confidentiality of your data while helping to address a broad range of data sovereignty and compliance needs. Visit the Help Center for more information on client-side encryption and our original announcement regarding client-side encryption for Gmail. 


Getting started


Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 16, 2022

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 and G Suite customers.


Drive approvals available on Android and iOS apps

Google Drive users have had the ability to send an item for approval on the web since 2021. These approvers can comment, approve, or reject a request on a file. Starting this week, Drive approvals are now available on the Drive Android and iOS apps. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more.


New keyboard shortcuts for Google Sheets on Android

In continuing our mission to provide a top-class user experience on large screen devices, we’re releasing new and updated keyboard shortcut options on Android that better align with the Google Sheets web experience. | View the full list of shortcuts and learn more here. 


Additional functionality for storage management

Adding shared drive storage limits and shared drives IDs are now available as part of the new set of tools for managing storage. Please refer to our original announcement for more information. | Learn more.


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.


Facet Enhancements for Cloud Search

It’s now easier to configure and use Cloud Search search filters and facets with multiple enhancements to our existing functionalities. With this launch, you can use the Cloud Search Query API to configure new additional capabilities. | Available to Google Cloud Search Customers. | Learn more. 


Easily format and display code in Google Docs

We’ve added a new smart canvas feature that makes this process much easier by enabling you to format and display code in Docs with code blocks. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits only. | Learn more. 


Email notifications from Google now available in the Alert Center

Admins routinely receive notifications from Google to inform them about important Google Workspace updates. Now when admins receive these notifications, they’ll also be captured in the Alert Center in the admin console. This will help make it easier for admins to stay on top of important communications from Google. | Learn more. 


Enjoy improved call performance with intelligent network switching in Google Voice

To ensure the best call experience, Google Voice now automatically switches ongoing calls between cellular data service and Wi-Fi when it determines that one network type will lead to better call quality. | Learn more.


Expanded language support for captions and translated captions in Google Meet

We’ve expanded language support for standard captions and translated captions in Google Meet. | Standard captions are available for all users. Translated captions are available for meetings organized by Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers.| Learn More.


Client-side encryption for Gmail available in beta

We’re expanding customer access to client-side encryption in Gmail on the web. Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers are eligible to apply for the beta until January 20th, 2022. | Learn more.


Completed feature rollouts

The features below have finished rolling out 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).



Client-side encryption for Gmail available in beta

What’s changing

We’re expanding customer access to client-side encryption in Gmail on the web. Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers are eligible to apply for the beta until January 20th, 2022.

Using client-side encryption in Gmail ensures sensitive data in the email body and attachments are indecipherable to Google servers. Customers retain control over encryption keys and the identity service to access those keys.


Who’s impacted
Admins and end users



Why it’s important

Google Workspace already uses the latest cryptographic standards to encrypt all data at rest and in transit between our facilities. Client-side encryption helps strengthen the confidentiality of your data while helping to address a broad range of data sovereignty and compliance needs. 

Client-side encryption is already available for Google Drive, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, Google Meet, and Google Calendar (beta).


Getting started


  • Admins: 
    • Eligible Workspace customers can apply for the beta after completing a few steps to prepare your account.
    • This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the domain, OU, and Group levels (Admin console > Security > Access and data control > Client-side encryption). Visit the Help Center to learn more about client side encryption. 

  • End users: To add client-side encryption to any message, click the lock icon and select additional encryption, and compose your message and add attachments as normal. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Client-side encryption for Gmail.





Rollout

We will be accepting beta applications and allowlisting customers over the next several weeks.


Availability

  • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources


Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – November 25, 2022

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 and G Suite customers. 



Resizing Pivot Tables in Sheets
We’re excited to announce a requested feature that allows you to resize the pivot table editor side panel when creating or editing a pivot table. This functionality is especially useful when the names of columns or fields are too long and you want to see the text in its entirety. | Learn more.

Improved search results based on recent search activity in Gmail
In July, we announced better search and suggestion options in Gmail. Now, when using Gmail on the web, this also includes better search results based on your recent search activity in Gmail. This enhancement to Gmail search makes results more relevant and contextual. | Learn more. 


Share Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files in Google Meet chat 
Earlier this year, we announced the ability to join or present to a Google Meet call from Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides. Now, if you are presenting or joining a meeting from a file, you can easily share that file with meeting attendees through in-meeting chat. With this update you’re able to grant access to a document, spreadsheet, or presentation to all or select meeting attendees, allowing everyone in the meeting to collaborate while having a conversation. | Learn more. 

Previous announcements


There are no previous announcements to share this week. For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).