Tag Archives: Google Chat

Streamlining the user experience in Google Chat to help you find what you need much faster

What’s changing 

We recently introduced numerous enhancements across Google Chat, and today we’re excited to announce the general availability of three features highlighting a new integrated experience. 

The redesigned navigation panel brings direct messages and spaces together and introduces shortcuts, a new framework to help you stay on top of your messages. 

To reduce friction while navigating between messages, home helps you quickly catch up on any new activity across all conversations in a single location. Additionally, you can narrow down your view by filtering for unread messages. 
chat home



Mentions give you visibility into the messages addressed specifically to you. Within this single destination for important, actionable messages, you can see and navigate to the messages that @-mention you. 
Chat mentions

In addition to these improvements to the user experience, we’re updating the icon for Google Chat over the coming weeks. The new icon has a cohesive look with other popular Workspace products and reflects the central role of business messaging and collaboration in Workspace. 
New Chat logo


Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

These features are designed to help you stay on top of the busy flow of communication and make it easier to prioritize and find the conversations that are most important to you. 


Additional details 

The direct message and spaces sections will be listed separately, but are scrollable and collapsable in one unified list. 

The list of messages where you have been @-mentioned are sorted by recency. 
  • Each row represents the message within the thread that mentions you. 
  • If you are mentioned multiple times in a conversation, each mention will show up as one row. 
  • Unread messages are highlighted in light blue and include a blue dot. 
Clicking on a message in the Home or Mentions view will bring you directly to the conversation or thread where you can respond. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

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

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – October 20, 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.


Multi-task using new split screen feature in the Gmail app on large screen Android devices 
Last year, we announced numerous improvements to the Google Workspace experience on large screen Android devices, which included multi-instance support on Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides. We’re excited to introduce a similar feature for the Gmail app on Android tablets & foldables. With this update, you can now open links & attachments directly beside your email content when your device is in landscape orientation. 
  • Upon tapping a link (or attachment) in your email, the link (or attachment) will open on the right half of the screen and the email will move to the left half. 
  • You can control the width of each half or make one the full screen by dragging on the divider handle. 
This feature is now available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. | Learn more about 7 productivity apps for Android tablets and foldable phones. 
Multi-task using new split screen feature in the Gmail app on large screen Android devices

Add Google Groups to spaces in Google Chat 
Last month, we rolled out the admin controls for a new feature that enables space managers and users with the permission to manage members to add Google Groups to a space. Starting this week, end users can utilize this option and add Groups to spaces in Chat. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for November 1, 2023. | Available to all domain-verified Google Workspace customers. | Learn more about adding a Google Group to a space. 


Add emoji reactions to comments in Google Slides 
Last week, we announced the ability to add emoji reactions to comments in Google Sheets. We’re excited to announce this is now available for comments in Google Slides, increasing collaboration by enabling you to quickly and creatively express your opinions about presentation content. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for October 31, 2023. | Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. | Learn more about using comments, action items, & emoji reactions. 
Add emoji reactions to comments in Google Slides

Respond to access requests for Google Workspace files more efficiently on Android devices 
Earlier this year, we introduced a new file access experience to make it easier for file approvers to respond to pending access requests across Google Workspace. We’re happy to announce that this update is now available on Android devices. Within a file (Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs, etc.), click the Share button > select the Review button in the new banner to view the access request(s) > respond to the request(s). | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. | Learn more about sharing files from Google Drive. 





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.



Upcoming changes to third-party cookie requirements in Google Drive
Google Chrome and other browsers have begun phasing out third-party cookies in order to better protect user privacy. Starting January 2, 2024, Drive will start serving downloads without requiring third-party cookies that are embedded on third-party websites. | Learn more about third-party cookie requirements in Google Drive. 


Understand the impact of Context-Aware Access policies with Monitor Mode 
Admins can now use Monitor Mode to understand the implications of a Context-Aware Access (CAA) policy before deploying it to their end users. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus, and Cloud Identity Premium customers only. | Learn more about Context-Aware Access policies with Monitor Mode. 


Use the space management tool to bulk delete Google Chat spaces 
Using the space management tool, admins can now delete multiple spaces within their organization at once. Over time, as more spaces are created, the list of spaces for an organization can become cluttered with abandoned and inactive spaces. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Frontline, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Teaching & Learning upgrade, Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about bulk deleting Google Chat spaces. 


Subtly enhance your appearance with portrait touch-up when using Google Meet on mobile devices 
We’re introducing portrait touch-up in Meet, a new feature on mobile that enables you to lightly touch up your appearance from the green room before joining or during the meeting. | Available to Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Teaching & Learning Upgrade, Google One and Google Workspace Individuals only. | Learn more about portrait touch-up in Meet. 


Map and sync system attributes of users from External Directory into Google Workspace 
Using Directory Sync, admins can map all the system or default user attributes, including custom attributes, from Microsoft Active Directory or Microsoft Azure Active Directory to Google Directory user attributes and synchronize them. | Learn more about Directory Sync. 


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:


Use the space management tool to bulk delete Google Chat spaces

What’s changing 

Using the space management tool, admins can now delete multiple spaces within their organization at once. Over time, as more spaces are created, the list of spaces for an organization can become cluttered with abandoned and inactive spaces. Having the ability to delete multiple spaces at once can simplify the effort required by admins to manage spaces for an organization. . For example, admins can sort spaces based on their member count in descending order or based on the last activity in the space. From there, admins can select multiple spaces and delete them with one click.

Selecting multiple spaces

Deleting multiple spaces




Additional details

When viewing spaces in your organization, you’ll notice a new column: Group counts. In this column, admins can see how many groups are members of a specific space.


Getting started


Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Frontline, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Teaching & Learning upgrade, Education Plus customers

Resources


Expanding Smart replies everywhere you receive messages 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 

Building upon recently introduced features in Google Chat, such as smart compose and autocorrect, we’re excited to announce that smart replies are expanding from direct messages to group messages and spaces on Chat on web.

You can now utilize smart replies, powered by machine learning, to quickly respond when you're on the go, in a hurry or just want to take the tediousness away from typing messages in Chat. 
Expanding Smart replies everywhere you receive messages in Google Chat

Who’s impacted

End users 


Why you’d use it 

Now available in spaces and group conversations, smart replies help you respond to teammates quickly and move projects forward more efficiently. 


Additional details 

Smart reply uses sophisticated machine learning intelligence to recognize which messages most likely need responses and then proposes up to three different replies. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • Smart replies will appear automatically. Simply select one of three response options surfaced in a chat or customize your response before you click send. Please note, this feature is available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
    • To t​urn off smart replies in Chat, navigate to the top right, click Settings > Under "Smart Reply," uncheck the box. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about replying to a chat message. 

Rollout pace 

  • This feature is available now for all users. 

Availability 

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

Resources 

Improved search results 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

Last year, we announced improvements to the Google Chat search experience on web and mobile that help you find more accurate and customized search suggestions and results. 

Now, when searching in Chat, machine learning models will use the search term(s), most recent Chat conversations in direct messages and spaces, and other factors to help you find more accurate and relevant Chat message results. 
Improved search results in Google Chat

Who’s impacted 

End users 


Additional details 

By default, search results will be sorted by relevance, but you have the option to change the result sorting to recency by clicking on the sort dropdown. 

If you unselect “Only conversations I’m in” at the top of the results page, you’ll see matching results from spaces that you’re not a part of, but have the option to join. For those spaces, you can preview and join them from the search results page itself. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

  • This feature is available now on web, Android and iOS. 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers 

Resources 

Updates regarding the transition from spaces organized by topic to in-line threading in Google Chat

What’s changing 

In 2022, we introduced in-line threading for Google Chat and since March 2023, all newly created spaces in Google Chat are in-line threaded by default. 


On September 30, 2023, we will begin taking the next step toward a single, streamlined flow of conversation in Google Chat: all existing spaces organized by conversation topic will be upgraded to the in-line threaded experience. We’d like to share more information regarding the migration, what to expect, as well as what’s next for Google Chat. 


Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users


Why it’s important

Whether it’s a 1:1 conversation  or a space, Google Chat plays a critical role in collaborating and communicating. Our goal is to continue evolving Chat to best serve our users and keep teams productive and connected. 


As such, we’ve heard from our customers that the way conversations were structured in spaces could be improved. Specifically, users found topic-based conversations to be restrictive and tricky to navigate. With topic-based conversations users would struggle to keep track of individual topics as new replies were added, and often find themselves scrolling back through threads to locate relevant topics.. Over time, topic threads have become noisier and more complex for many users.


What became clear was the need for a continuous conversation flow. In-line threading allows users to reply to any message and create a discussion separate from the main conversation and users have reported a much higher satisfaction rate as compared to topic-based spaces. Users can also follow specific threads, whereby they’ll receive notifications for replies and @ mentions in that thread, helping to cut through clutter and stay on top of what matters most.


What to expect during the upgrade period

Beginning September 30, 2023 we will begin upgrading conversations grouped by topic to in-line threading. We anticipate this change to be completed by March 2024. 


In order to minimize disruptions on day-to-day work, we will do our best to initiate upgrades during off-peak times on weekends. Should you be using Chat during these upgrades, spaces that are being upgraded will be inaccessible for a few minutes. Admins can use this form to specify a specific month and whether they prefer the upgrade to take place on weekdays or weekends. Please note this will be on a best effort basis and this form must be submitted by October 15, 2023. Based on the preference selected by a customer, we’ll choose one of the upgrade windows on a weekday or a weekend in the selected month and upgrade all the eligible spaces during off-peak hours. 

Prior to the upgrade

A minimum of two weeks prior to the upgrade taking place, a banner will be displayed in impacted spaces notifying users about the impending change. Users will be able to click through to the Help Center for more information.


During the upgrade

As mentioned above, we plan to execute these changes during off-peak times to help minimize disruption. If you’re using an impacted space when the upgrade commences, most functions such as sending and receiving messages will be inaccessible. Typically, this will only last for a few minutes, after which users simply need to refresh the browser tab to access and use the newly upgraded space. Other direct messages, group conversations and in-line threaded spaces will not be impacted and will remain accessible during the upgrade



After the upgrade 

Once the upgrade is complete, the space will use the in-line threaded model. Messages sent before the upgrade will be retained, and will be arranged chronologically, instead of by topic. There will also be a separator titled “Begin New Topic” to indicate every time a new topic was started. 

In some cases, when people have responded on older topics, the new chronological order takes precedence. This means that messages may not appear next to the original topic, but rather according to their timestamp. When this occurs, the new response will quote the last corresponding message that it is replying to, as seen in the image below. 

You’ll also see a separator between the last message sent before the migration, and a message indicating that the space has been upgraded to a space with in-line replies. Going forward, all new messages will feature in-line threaded functionality. 


More new ways to work with threads

To further elevate the in-line threading experience, we’ll be introducing several new features during the remainder of the year and into 2024. Here’s a preview of some of those features — be sure to subscribe to the Workspace Updates blog for the latest updates on availability. Meanwhile, please refer to this post for even more features coming to Google Chat. 


Resizable threads panel

You’ll be able to easily resize the threads sidebar to best suit your screen size or increase the focus on threads most important to you.


Home shortcut 
“Home” is the place to manage and catch up on your Chat messages. Messages from your followed threads will be shown in Home. You can also filter to only see your followed threads and unread conversations. You’ll be able to open a conversation or reply from the Home view.

Select "Home" from the sidebar. 






You can choose to get notified for all messages, and automatically follow all threads within a space ensuring you don’t miss any updates.


Thread participants 
You will be able to see avatars of users that have replied to a thread to get better context and decide whether the thread is relevant to you.


Getting started


Availability

  • This update impacts all Google Workspace customers 

Resources




Easily add or remove groups of members to a space in Google Chat

What’s changing 

We’re introducing a new app for Google Chat called Bulk Member Manager that enables space managers and space members, who have permission to manage members, to easily add or remove members to or from a space in bulk. 

In addition to the new membership search feature and the ability to add up to 50,000 members to spaces in Google Chat, this update will help you better organize people, topics, and projects to help ensure effective conversations take place in spaces.
Easily add or remove groups of members to a space in Google Chat

Getting started 

  • Admins: Admins can enable or disable users from adding Chat apps to their spaces by going to the Admin console > Apps > Google Chat > Chat apps access settings. Visit the Help Center to learn more about optimizing Chat spaces for your organization. 
  • End users: 
    • All space managers can add members using the Bulk Member Manager app. A space manager can grant permission for a space member to add other members by going to the space menu > Space settings > Access > selecting the All members option under Who can manage members and groups. If this is granted, a space member can use the Bulk Member Manager app to add members. 
    • To use Bulk Member Manager, open the space that you want to add or remove members to/from > add the app to the space > type one of the following slash commands: 
      • “/addDialog” to add members by copy/pasting email addresses. The app will guide you through the process of adding members. 
      • “/removeDialog” to remove members by copy/pasting email addresses. The app will guide you through the process of removing members. 
      • “/addCsv” (with a .csv attachment) to add members. 
      • “/removeCsv” (with a .csv attachment) to remove members 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about using the Bulk Member Manager app.

Rollout pace 

  • This feature is available now for all Google Workspace customers 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers 

Resources 

Easily link to a specific message 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

Building upon the recent updates in Google Chat, such as message views, in-line replies and larger spaces, we’re introducing message linking, an additional feature that helps teams collaborate more effectively. 


To generate links to messages easier so that others can reference a particular topic or announcement, we’ve added a “Copy link” option for all messages posted in spaces, group messages and direct messages. Once the link is sent and clicked by a colleague, they will be taken to the original message within Chat as long as they have access to the conversation or space.

Easily link to a specific message in Google Chat

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • To generate a link to a message, hover over the message and click the three-dot menu > select ‘Copy link” > paste the link within the conversation or space of your choice.
      • Users who don’t have access to a specific space will receive an error message upon clicking the link to a message in a space they do not belong to 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about linking to a specific message. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

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

Resources 

Additional space manager capabilities in Google Chat

What’s changing 

We’re adding two new controls to the list of space manager capabilities in Google Chat that were introduced earlier this year to ensure effective conversations take place in spaces. The new “Manage apps” and “Manage webhooks” options will allow space managers to control the ability of space members to add and remove apps and webhooks to a space. 
The new “Manage apps” and “Manage webhooks” options


We’re also making the following improvements to enhance the overall experience of spaces in Chat: 
  • An updated “@” mentions dialog notification that explains why a specific user or an app cannot be added to a space. 
An updated “@” mentions dialog notification

  • A new full screen view on web that shows space managers all installed apps and webhooks within a space. 
A new full screen view on web

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers 

Resources 

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