Tag Archives: Google Calendar

Better location context for events and RSVPs in Gmail

What’s changing

Earlier this year, we made it even easier to use RSVPs in Google Calendar to let others know how you’re planning to join a meeting. Now, you can do the same thing directly from an invite in Gmail. If you've set your physical or virtual working location, there will be a default join method for your RSVP. 
Better location context for events and RSVPs in Gmail

Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why it’s important 

This feature aims to improve the way you and your colleagues utilize your planned working location for meetings and events, especially in a hybrid work environment. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

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

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – April 14, 2023

1 New update

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.





Reminder: Google Calendar and Assistant Reminders will migrate to Google Tasks soon
In February 2023, we shared plans for the next phase of migrating Google Calendar and Assistant Reminders to Google Tasks. As a reminder, if you use a Google account for work and school, you’ll start to see a prompt in Assistant and Calendar to move reminders created in these apps to Tasks. For more information on this migration, please refer to our original announcement.

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.


Improve search results with Personalization Boost and Click Boost for Cloud Search 
To help you find relevant documents faster, we’re introducing user personalization boost and click boost for the Cloud Search API. | Available to Google Cloud Search Customers only. | Learn more. 


Enabling organizational communication with announcements in Google Chat 
We're giving Space Managers the ability to configure spaces for sharing organizational announcements. Using the new announcement-only configuration, message posting and other capabilities are limited to designated Space Managers. | Learn more. 


Fine tune access to data with additional options for Access Approvals 
In 2022, we introduced Access Approvals, which enables customers to control when Google support personnel can access specific data during support and general maintenance. Beginning this week, we’re introducing additional options that provide customers even more control over these data interactions. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers only. | Learn more. 


Introducing new collaboration and flexibility features for Google Sites 
We've announced even more enhancements that improve upon collaboration within Sites and give you even more control over the layout of your Site’s content. | Learn more. 


Practice sets in Google Classroom are now generally available 
We’re excited to announce that practice sets are now generally available in English in Google Classroom to Google Workspace for Education Plus and Google Workspace for Education Teaching and Learning customers. | Learn more. 


Streamlined file organization with the new Google Drive location picker 
We've added improvements to the web Google Drive location picker that enable you to quickly and efficiently select a location to organize files and folders. The updates include a new visual experience and helpful suggestions when moving files and folders or adding shortcuts to items in Drive. | Learn more. 


New community features for Google Chat and an update on Currents
Last year, we announced plans to wind down Currents, to focus efforts on community experiences that are better integrated with the rest of Google Workspace. To help our customers manage this transition, we published detailed guidance for Workspace administrators and enabled customers to opt-in for automated migration of Currents data to spaces in Google Chat. | Learn more. 


Set default label values for files in Google Drive
This week, we’re expanding the automated classification capabilities of Drive labels to support setting default label values in addition to the current admin ability to apply labels by default. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus 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 Release Domains:
Scheduled Release Domains:
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

Launching in beta: manage working locations with the Calendar API

What’s changing

Available now in beta through our Developer Preview Program, you can read working location data using the Calendar API and get notified when those working locations change. Previously, we said this functionality would be available through a separate API. However, in order to provide a more streamlined experience, this functionality will be instead available in the Calendar API. 

Using the API to read a Calendar user’s working location values can help you:

  • Analyze the flow and volume of people through physical campuses, helping you adapt on-site resources to the needs of your employees.
  • Share whereabouts across other internal or third-party surfaces, making it easier to enable tasks such as hot desk booking or schedule in-office or remote working days.

We anticipate write support for the API to become available in Q3 2023 — we’ll share an update here on the Workspace Updates Blog at that time.

Getting started


Admins and Developers: 

Admins: 

Availability

While all developers will be able to use the API, the working location feature is only available for eligible Workspace editions:

  • Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Nonprofits customers, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Frontline, G Suite Basic customers 

Resources


Save time with suggested work locations in Google Calendar

What’s changing 

Since announcing the ability to share where you’re working from directly on Google Calendar, we’ve introduced features that enable better planning around in-person collaboration and meeting coordination, especially in a hybrid work environment. A few include: 

Today, we’re adding an update that helps you easily define your work location much quicker with suggested working locations based on your recent locations. 

Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

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

Resources 

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:

Client-side encryption for Google Calendar is now generally available

What’s changing

Last year, we expanded the client-side encryption beta to Google Calendar to help customers strengthen the confidentiality of their data while helping address a broad range of data sovereignty and compliance requirements. Today, we’re happy to announce that 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. 

When using client-side encryption for Calendar events, your event description, attachments, and Meet data is indecipherable to Google servers. You have 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 data at rest and in transit between our facilities. With client-side encryption, we’re taking this a step further by giving customers direct control of encryption keys and the identity provider used to access those keys. This can help you strengthen the confidentiality of your data while helping to address a broad range of data sovereignty and compliance needs. 

Client-side encryption allows you to create a fundamentally stronger privacy posture, whether that’s to help your organization comply with regulations like ITAR and CJIS or simply to better protect the privacy of your confidential data. 


Additional details 

Client-side encryption for Google Calendar on mobile is currently in beta. Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers are eligible to apply for the mobile beta here until March 3, 2023. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the domain, OU, and Group levels. Go to the Admin console > Security > Access and data control > Client-side encryption. Visit the Help Center to learn more about client-side encryption. 
  • End users: 
    • You will need to be logged in with your Identity Provider to have access to encrypted content. 
    • To add encryption to any event in Calendar, click on the shield icon at the top of the event creation card. This will add encryption to event description, attachments, and Meet, while other items such as event title, time, and guests remain on standard encryption. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about client-side encryption in Calendar. 

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, Enterprise Standard, 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 – 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).

Check availability across multiple calendars when using appointment schedules on Google Calendar

What’s changing

The appointment scheduling tool is a feature that allows people to share their availability via a booking page that can be used by colleagues, external stakeholders, clients, and partners to schedule a meeting. With the current appointment scheduling experience, you are unable to review multiple calendars for conflicts when exposing appointment times to others. 

As a result, we’re introducing 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. 

Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

This update will ​​prevent scheduling conflicts by checking your availability across multiple calendars, enabling others to set up meeting times that best fit your schedule. 


Additional details 

In addition to your primary calendar, you can check availability from all of your calendars added to Google Calendar on the web, such as calendars you own, calendars you have edit and manage rights to, and subscribed calendars. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

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

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – January 13, 2023

1 New update
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.



Find apps and app commands in Chat with a new Integration Menu 
We’re making it easier to discover and use Chat apps with a new Integration Menu. Simply click the (+) button next to the compose bar in a Chat message to see installed apps. You can also browse the slash commands that the apps support and execute them. On the web, the Integration Menu includes a search functionality that allows you to browse new apps. | 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, Frontline, and 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 option to view non-printing characters in Google Docs 
You can now choose to display non-printing characters in order to see how a document is laid out. | Learn more. 

Improvements to voice features in Google Docs and Slides 
We’ve improved the features that enable you to type and edit by speaking in Google Docs or in Google Slides speaker notes, and present slides with automatic captions to display a speaker's words in real time. | Learn more. 

Manage all Google Workspace API activity from a single location 
Within the Google Cloud Console, you can now view and manage all Google Workspace API activity. Here, you’ll find a centralized view of which APIs are currently running and their associated requests. | Learn more. 

Increasing efficiency through better meeting room management with room release 
Room release, an existing feature that releases booked meeting rooms when all but one attendee declines the invitation will now be ON by default. There will be a transition period, from January 11 - March 6, 2023, where admins can opt out structured meeting rooms or user groups from this room release setting. | Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more. 

New in-meeting reactions for Google Meet 
You can now use emojis to share in-meeting reactions in Google Meet on Web, Meet Hardware devices, and iOS, with Android coming soon. | Learn more. 

Introducing simpler conversation creation in Google Chat 
The process to create conversations in Chat will be much simpler by combining the flow for creating one-on-one conversations and group conversations. | Learn more. 

View speaker notes while presenting Google Slides in Google Meet
In October of 2022, we introduced the ability to present Google Slides directly in Google Meet. To build upon this, you can now view your speaker notes within Google Meet. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Education Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits 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.


Scheduled 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).

Increasing efficiency through better meeting room management with room release

What’s changing

In this hybrid work environment, there’s an increased need to better optimize meeting rooms in order to foster greater collaboration. 

Room release, an existing feature that releases booked meeting rooms when all but one attendee declines the invitation will now be ON by default. This update improves upon the opportunity for admins and their colleagues to have better context for location planning, meeting room management, and attendee accommodations. 

There will be a transition period, from January 11 - March 6, 2023, where admins can opt out structured meeting rooms or user groups from this room release setting. See the “Getting started” section below for more details. 

Who’s impacted 

Admins 


Why you’d use it 

This feature makes meeting room management, especially in a hybrid work environment, more efficient by releasing rooms when most attendees are unavailable. 


Additional details 

We’re introducing a global setting to turn room release ON/OFF for all rooms in a domain, and an opt-out setting for each individual room resource. This will not be activated until the end of the transition period.  

The legacy setting that enables or disables room release will be renamed to "Legacy Calendar-based room release" and will only be available during the transition period. 

If you wish to maintain your organization’s current setup and keep only a limited number of rooms enabled for room release, the steps below can be taken to apply the legacy setting values to the new setting: 

  • In the Admin Console, go to Buildings and resources > Manage resources
  • Click “Add a filter” and select the filters “Legacy Calendar-based room release: “Off” and “Exempt from room release: Off”

  • Click on the checkbox at the top of the Resources list to select all the resources. 
  • Click the “Edit” dropdown on the right-hand side and select “Edit room release exemption: On” 
  • If you have more than 200 resources, repeat until the applied filters show no more resources. 
In order to improve the meeting room experience, we encourage you not to exempt rooms from room release when there is no need.

If you want to modify the behavior of the room release feature before the end of the transition period, you should modify the “Legacy Calendar-based room release” setting for the appropriate rooms. This can be done in the Admin Console by follow these steps: 

  • Navigate to Buildings and resources > manage resources
  • Select one or multiple resources for which you’d like to modify the room release behavior. 
  • Click the “Edit” dropdown on the right-hand side and select “Edit legacy Calendar-based room release” 

Getting started 

  • Admins: 
    • For companies with structured meeting rooms set up, admins will see the option to turn this setting ON or OFF in the Admin Console starting January 11, 2023. 
    • Starting March 6, 2023, this feature will be ON by default for companies with structured meeting rooms set up in the Admin Console. 
    • To individually exempt certain or all structured meeting rooms from this room release feature, go to Buildings and resources > Manage resources > click on the desired room. Then navigate to the room settings section > turn ON "Exempt from room release" 
      • By March 6, 2023 the rooms will no longer be released. 
    • To opt out user groups from this setting, go to Buildings and resources > room settings > click "EDIT GROUP" next to "Exempt user groups from room release" > add the desired groups. 
    • Meeting rooms are not released when the room holds 20+ people or when the meeting is longer than 4 hours. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about releasing unused Google Calendar meeting rooms. 
  • End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about responding to event invitations. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

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

Resources