Tag Archives: Google Chat

Differentiate messages better with additional modernizations in Google Chat

This announcement is part of Google Cloud Next ‘23. Visit the Workspace Blog to learn more about the new Google Chat. 

What’s changing

Earlier this year, we announced a modernized Google Chat based on Google’s Material Design 3 that included updates to the font, colors, layouts, panel sizing and more. Building upon this, we’re introducing message bubbles to enable users to more easily differentiate incoming versus outgoing messages in the Chat message stream. 

Currently, all messages in Chat are aligned the same regardless of the sender and displayed without any visual containers that separate messages into clear groups. With today’s update: 
  • Each incoming message will have an independent message bubble aligned to one side with a solid color background 
  • Each outgoing message will have an independent message bubble aligned to the other side with a different color background 
Differentiate messages better with additional modernizations in Google Chat

Getting started 

  • Admins and end users: No action required. You’ll automatically see these updates in your web and mobile experience over the next several weeks. 

Mobile - Each incoming message will have an independent message bubble aligned to one side with a solid color background Each outgoing message will have an independent message bubble aligned to the other side with a different color background

Rollout pace 

Web: 
Android: 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Add Google Groups to spaces in Google Chat

What’s changing

In continuing our efforts to improve spaces in Google Chat, we’re introducing the ability for space managers and users with the permission to manage members to add Google Groups to a space. With this update, the group members are automatically added to a space and any changes to the group's membership, such as adding and removing members, are also automatically reflected in the space. 
Add Google Groups to spaces in Google Chat

Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 

Why you’d use it 

This feature adds a Google Group to a space and continuously syncs membership from Groups to Chat, making membership management, especially adding or removing a large number of members, much easier. 

Additional details 

  • Memberships are updated from Groups to Chat, which means changes to the space membership will not be reflected in the group members list. 
  • Some groups and their members may not be visible to all members in the space as group member visibility in spaces will respect the group’s member visibility settings set in Google Groups. 
  • Group members can be promoted to space managers. Visit the Help Center to learn more about making someone a space manager. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: 
    • By default, any space manager or user with permission to manage members can add groups to space. 
    • To limit this feature so that only Google Group owners and managers can add groups to spaces, sign into the Admin console > go to Menu > Apps > Google Workspace > Google Chat > select “Groups in Chat” > Choose who can add groups to spaces > click Save. Visit the Help Center to learn more about restricting who can add Google Groups to spaces. 
  • End users: 
    • If you are a space manager or have permission to manage members, you can add the Google Group as a member by selecting the space > going to space settings > click Manage members > select the “+ Add” button > enter the name of the group you want to add > click Add. 
    • If you are unable to add a group to a space, it is likely that your admin has restricted the ability to add a group to the Group owners and managers. Reach out to the Google Group owners and managers to add the group. 
    • Google Groups can also be added when creating a new space. Visit the Help Center to learn more about creating spaces. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about adding a group to a space, removing a group from a space, viewing groups in a space and more. 
  • Developers: For developers who are registered in the Workspace Developer Preview program, you will be able to modify your Chat App to also list Google Groups added to spaces using the Chat API. 

Rollout pace 

Admin controls: 
Add Groups to spaces: 

Availability 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – September 8, 2023

5 New updates 

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


Expanding autocorrect to Google Chat on web 
Google Chat on web will now automatically correct misspelled words, making it easier to send messages without typos. Similar to functionality in Gmail and Google Docs, the corrected words are shown with a gray underline so you know when the auto-correction has occurred. | This feature is rolling out now to all English users.
Expanding autocorrect to Google Chat on web

Expanding streamlined file organization across Google Workspace 
Earlier this year, we introduced streamlined file organization with the new Google Drive location picker. As a follow up, we're expanding this updated visual experience to Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Sites and Gmail. Users will now have access to helpful suggestions when moving files, adding shortcuts to files, or creating copies of files. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). | Learn more about how to use Google Drive. 

Updated zoom in/out capabilities across Google Docs, Slides and Drawings
We’re introducing new zoom keyboard shortcuts in Google Docs and Slides on web to help you zoom in, zoom out, or scale to 100%. Additionally, you can now smoothly zoom in or out in Slides using the trackpad or mouse wheel with a modifier key (cmd/ctrl), making it easier to control your view of Slides. | Learn more about keyboard shortcuts for Docs and Slides. 

Expanded language support for captions in Google Meet 
Captions in Google Meet allow you to view captions as everyone speaks during a meeting. Over the course of the next several weeks, you’ll be able to use captions in more languages: 

Arabic (Arab Emirates) (Beta)

Arabic (Egypt) (Beta)

Arabic (Levant) (Beta)

Arabic (Maghrebi) (Beta)

Bengali (Bangladesh) (Beta)

Bulgarian (Bulgaria) (Beta)

Chinese (Simplified) (Beta)

Chinese, Mandarin (Traditional) (Beta)

English (UK) (Beta)

Gujarati (India) (Beta)

Hindi (Beta)

isiXhosa (South Africa) (Beta)

Kannada (India) (Beta)

Khmer (Cambodia) (Beta)

Kinyarwanda (Rwanda) (Beta)

Malayalam (India) (Beta)

Marathi (India) (Beta)

Northern Sotho (South Africa) (Beta)

Sesotho (South Africa) (Beta)

Swati (South Africa) (Beta)

Swedish (Sweden) (Beta)

Tshivenda (South Africa) (Beta)

Tswana (South Africa) (Beta)

Xitsonga (South Africa) (Beta)

Available now to all Google Workspace customers. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about using captions in Google Meet.

Dynamic groups now supports negation queries 
You can now create or edit dynamic groups to use negation in membership queries. For example, you can opt to create a dynamic group that excludes all users from a particular sub organization or specific job title. There are a few limitations, however — any query using the “exists” macro and using the AND (&) operator or queries where the NOT operator is used inside of the “exists” macro will not be supported. | Rolling out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains at gradual pace (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting September 11, 2023. | Available to Google Workspace Frontline Standard, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus and Cloud Identity Premium customers only. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about creating membership queries for dynamic groups and our Developer documentation for more information about formulating and testing a membership query. 
Dynamic groups now supports negation queries

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.


Expanding branding and customization capabilities to Google Sites 
You can now easily and quickly create with high-quality, pre-designed themes for Google Sites. | Available to Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus only. | Learn more about changing how your Google Site looks. 

Introducing a new ultra-low latency viewer experience for in-domain live streaming in Google Meet 
We are introducing a new ultra-low latency viewing experience for video meetings that are streamed within an organization. The new experience will be available to the first ten thousand viewers — all additional viewers will have the existing experience. | Learn more about in-domain live streaming in Google Meet. 

More Google Meet features for Google Workspace Individual users 
If you’re a Google Workspace Individual user, you can now take advantage of several new Meet features and enhancements. We hope these updates make it easier for you to connect and collaborate with your customers and stakeholders, continuing to drive your business forward. | Learn more about features for Google Workspace Individual users. 

Lock files more easily in Google Drive 
We’re adding the option to lock Drive files by right-clicking the file, selecting “File information”, and clicking “Lock”. Locking a file makes sure reviewers can’t change a file. Edits, comments and suggestions can't be added to locked documents. | Learn more about locking files in Drive.

Increased row limits in Connected Sheets for BigQuery 
We’re increasing the maximum number of rows of results returned from BigQuery for pivot tables and for data extracts. Pivot tables have been expanded to 50,000 rows (previously 30,000) and data extracts have been expanded to 50,000 rows (previously 25,000). | Learn more about Connected Sheets for BigQuery.


Evolving collaboration in Google Chat with smart chips

This announcement is part of Google Cloud Next ‘23. Visit the Workspace Blog to learn more about the new Google Chat. 

What’s changing

In 2021, we launched smart canvas to drive the next era of collaboration in Google Workspace. Since then, we’ve added numerous smart chips to Google Docs and Sheets that enable you to preview and access rich, context-setting information and files within your documents and spreadsheets. Today, we’re excited to announce smart chips in Google Chat on web. 


When composing a message in Chat, typing “@” will now display a list of suggestions for files to include as smart chips. You can search files by typing the name of the file, and the results will be based on files you’ve used most recently. Once a file is selected, you can insert it directly into your message. 
Evolving collaboration in Google Chat with smart chips

Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

Many people take a number of collaborative actions in Chat so they can get work done faster. For example, you may share project files in a direct message or space to gather quick feedback from stakeholders. 


This feature reduces friction for senders by eliminating the need to separately find files within Drive and then copy/paste them into a Chat message. Now, users can send files as smart chips so they are compact and readable in a message, without leaving Chat. 


Additional details 

An in-line preview of the file chip will be shown while composing the message, similar to when pasting the URL of the file into Chat. This can be removed by clicking on the dismiss button before sending the message or at any point when editing the message. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: In Google Chat on web, type “@” followed by a file name to search for a file and insert it directly into a message. Visit the Help Center to learn more about sending & sharing files in Google Chat. 
    • Note: Mobile users can receive and click on smart chips, but cannot insert them on the Chat mobile app at this time. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Interoperability between Google Chat and other messaging platforms — powered by Mio

This announcement was made at Google Cloud Next ‘23. Visit the Workspace Blog to learn more about the next wave of AI innovation in Workspace. 

What’s changing 

If your organization uses a mixture of messaging tools, you can now use Mio to enable messaging interoperability between Google Chat and other platforms such as Slack and Teams. This is available now in beta, with general availability expected in early 2024. 




Who’s impacted 

Admins 


Why it matters 

We know that communication and collaboration happens over multiple channels and tools. This can cause missed messages, silos of communication, and a frustrating experience monitoring multiple chat tools. 


That’s why we’re partnering with Mio, a leading provider of collaborative interoperability solutions helping customers enhance their productivity by streamlining communication across multiple channels. You can leverage Mio to create a seamless experience between Chat and the various tools you need to get your work done. 


Getting started 



Availability 

Note: In order to leverage Mio’s interoperability capabilities, Mio licenses are required. 
  • Beta Availability: To request beta access, reach out to your account rep or submit this form to contact Mio. 
  • General Availability: Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline Starter, Frontline Standard, and Nonprofits customers 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – August 25, 2023

2 New updates 

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


Copy space member email address in Google Chat 
Space managers and members can now copy the email addresses of members in a space on Google Chat. This option is ON by default for spaces with 100 members or less. The option to copy space member email addresses will be disabled in spaces with 100+ members. 
Copy space member email address in Google Chat

Filter by expression for Connected Sheets for Looker 
You can now use common filter expressions from Looker such as “last 30 days”, “last quarter”, or “NOT 50” to filter on pivot tables in Connected Sheets for Looker. | Learn more about Connected Sheets. 


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.


View speaker notes while co-presenting Google Slides in Google Meet
Co-presenters are now also able to view speaker notes. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, the Teaching & Learning Upgrade, and Workspace Individual customers only. | Learn more about viewing speaker notes while co-presenting Google Slides in Google Meet. 

Stronger protection for additional sensitive actions taken in Gmail 
Last year, we introduced stronger safeguards around sensitive actions taken in your Google Workspace accounts. We’re extending these protections to sensitive actions taken in Gmail. | Learn more about stronger protection in Gmail. 

See message view counts in Google Chat spaces 
Space members can now see view counts for messages in all spaces. | Learn more about view counts in Google Chat spaces. 

View & compare script versions with Apps Script project history 
We're announcing project history, a new interface for developers to view previously deployed script versions and compare versions to the current script version. | Learn more about Apps Script project history. 

Displaying Microsoft Outlook users as organizers in Google Calendar 
Microsoft Outlook user who organize meetings are now listed amongst the other meeting attendees in Calendar as the meeting organizer. | Learn more Microsoft Outlook organizers in Google Calendar. 

Introducing Workday app for Google Chat 
We’re adding a new Workday app for Google Chat that allows you to perform quick actions in Workday, such as requesting time off, filing expense reports and looking up colleague's information, all without leaving Google Chat. | Learn more about the Workday app for Google Chat.

Join client-side encrypted meetings from your mobile device 
You can join a client-side encrypted meeting directly from the Google Meet and Calendar apps. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers hosting client-side encrypted calls only. | Learn more about client-side encrypted meetings from your mobile device. 

Third-party app access enhancements for Google Workspace for Education 
All Google Workspace for Education Admins must review and confirm access settings for third-party configured apps that are currently accessible to your users by Oct 23, 2023 in order for users designated as under 18 to maintain access to those third-party apps. | Available to Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade only. | Learn more about third-party app access. 

Enhance your Google Keep notes on Android with rich text formatting 
We’re adding rich text formatting options to new notes on Keep. This highly requested feature enables you to customize and add emphasis to your text through bolding, underlining, italicizing, and heading styles. | Learn more about rich text formatting on the Keep app.


Completed rollouts

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


Rapid Release Domains:

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

Introducing Workday app for Google Chat

What’s changing

We’re adding a new Workday app for Google Chat that allows you to perform quick actions in Workday, such as requesting time off, filing expense reports and looking up colleague's information, all without leaving Google Chat. 
Introducing Workday app for Google Chat

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

  • This feature is available now for all users. 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

See message view counts in Google Chat spaces

What’s changing

In June, we introduced read receipts in group direct messages so that users could quickly identify if other members of a group have read their latest message within a Google Chat stream. Today, we’re excited to announce a similar feature in spaces that will allow space members to see view counts for messages in all spaces. 

A more detailed view of how many members are engaging with content in spaces can be seen by hovering over the message, selecting the three-dot menu, and clicking “See message views”. 
See view counts in Google Chat spaces


Additional details 

The view counts in spaces will be available for messages sent on August 1, 2023 and beyond. Additionally, view counts are not available for in-line replies. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Web: 

Mobile (Android & iOS): 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – August 11, 2023

4 New updates 

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


Adding bulk conversion for place chips in Google Sheets
Earlier this year, we introduced a smart canvas feature that enables you to open a location directly in Google Maps and see a preview of the location or find directions when a Google Maps place chip is added to your Sheet. Starting this week, users can now convert links to place chips in bulk from the insert menu or cell menu. This time-saving update is especially helpful when formatting data in bulk for event schedules, vendor lists, trip itineraries, etc. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). | Learn more about inserting smart chips in your Google Sheets. 
Adding bulk conversion for place chips in Google Sheets
Easily set up dropdown chips in Google Sheets with a new pre-fill feature 
If you select a range of cells then insert a dropdown chip, manually entered cell data will convert to pre-fill the dropdown values. You can then use the dropdown sidebar to easily adjust the options or add styles to the dropdowns before accepting. | Learn more about creating a dropdown list with existing data. 
Easily set up dropdown chips in Google Sheets with a new pre-fill feature
Reorganizing the file and folder menu in Google Drive
Earlier this year, we introduced a refreshed interface for Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. Building upon this, when right-clicking a file or folder in Drive, you will now see a new menu format. While the menu functionality remains the same, we’ve reordered and renamed menu items, and also added new sub-menus. 
Reorganizing the right-click menu format in Google Drive

Updated timeline for upgrading to the in-line threaded experience in Google Chat 
Earlier this year, we announced that existing spaces organized by conversation topic will be upgraded to the new in-line threaded experience by Q4 2023. We’d like to provide an update on that timing: 
  • The upgrade will start in September 2023 and is expected to be completed by the end of Q1 2024. 
Ahead of the upgrade, Google Workspace admins, partners, and resellers will receive an email with more information about what to expect before any changes are made to their experience. For more information, please refer to our previous 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.


Simplify lesson planning with shareable class templates and classwork with new Google Classroom beta 
We’re excited to announce a Google Classroom beta that will simplify lesson planning with others and make classroom materials more accessible. | Available to Education Plus only. | Learn more about the new Google Classroom beta. 

Updates for exporting your organization’s data 
Google Workspace customers can choose to export the data of a specific user, rather than a customer’s full set of user generated content. Additionally, you’ll notice an improved user interface for the data export tool, which provides more detailed information about exports, records a longer history of exports, and offers more features (filtered takeout). | Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Assured Controls customers only. | Learn more about exporting your organization’s data. 

Review suggested hints, add your own resources, and more for practice sets in Google Classroom We’ve announced an update that gives teachers more control over the resources for students in practice sets. | Available to Google Workspace for Education Plus and Google Workspace for Education Teaching and Learning Upgrade only. | Learn more about practice sets in Google Classroom. 

Expanding branding and customization capabilities in Google Slides and Google Forms 
Users now have access to a domain template with a variety of branded slides, layouts, images, colors and fonts that will appear when creating a new presentation in Slides. They also have access to a domain theme including fonts, branded colors and a header image that you can use when creating a new form or editing an existing form in Forms. | Available to Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus only. | Learn more about default templates & themes. 

Adding Gmail translation to mobile devices 
There is now a native translation integration within the Gmail mobile app that will enable you to seamlessly communicate in a wide range of languages. | Learn more about translating on mobile devices in Gmail. 

Google Keep integration with Assistant available to all Google Workspace users 
If you’re using the Google Assistant with your Google Workspace device, you can set Google Keep as the default provider for your notes and lists. You can ask Assistant to create a new list, add or delete items for an existing list, or read back all the list items to you. | Learn more about the Google Keep integration with Assistant. 

Introducing eSignature for Google Docs and Google Drive: launching to open beta for Workspace Individual subscribers, launching to beta for Google Workspace customers 
eSignature is now available as an open beta for Google Workspace Individual subscribers — no additional sign-up is required to use the feature. eSignature will be available in beta for select Google Workspace customers — see the “Additional details” section below for more information. | Eligible for beta: Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Education Plus, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more about eSignatures in Google Docs. 

Gallery view for Zoom interoperability on Google Meet hardware 
We’re now introducing support for Zoom’s Gallery view, which makes much better use of screen real estate and allows more participants to be seen on screen at the same time. | Available for all Google Meet hardware customers. | Learn more about Zoom interoperability for Google Meet hardware devices. 

Add annotations to your presentations in Google Slides 
There is a feature that lets you highlight or emphasize key content while you present in Google Slides. With the new pen tool, you can circle, underline, draw connections or make quick notes directly on your presentation. | Learn more about annotations in Google Slides

Set Context Aware Access policies for 1P & 3P applications to access Workspace APIs
Admins can now use context-aware access to block users' access to Workspace Applications via other Google (1st party) & non Google (3rd party) applications. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus, and Cloud Identity Premium customers. | Learn more about Context Aware Access policies.


Completed rollouts

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


Rapid Release Domains: 

Scheduled Release Domains: 

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains: 

In-line replies now available within announcement spaces in Google Chat

What’s changing

Earlier this year, we introduced the ability for space managers to configure spaces for sharing organizational announcements. While these announcement spaces aim to facilitate one-way controlled communication in Google Chat, we’re adding an optional in-line reply feature that will enable members of a space to respond to or discuss an announcement. 
In-line replies now available within announcement spaces in Google Chat

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about optimizing Chat spaces for your organization. 
  • End users: For newly created announcement spaces, the in-line reply feature is the default for all members. In existing announcement spaces, the in-line reply feature is the default for space managers only. To enable or disable this setting, space managers can go to the space menu > space settings > permissions > “Reply to messages” > select “All members” or “Space managers only”. Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing your space settings, creating an announcement space and your role as a space manager. 

Rollout pace 

Web: 
Mobile (Android & iOS): 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers 

Resources