As previously announced, you can use the Google Slides app on your mobile phone or tablet to present to any screen with Chromecast or AirPlay. The latest version of the Slides app for Android allows you to share your work even more widely, by presenting to Google Hangouts. To get started, simply open your presentation and tap the Present icon. Join a meeting already scheduled on your calendar or choose to initiate a brand new video call. Either way, you’ll be able to see who’s on the call before you present and to advance your slides, view your speaker notes, and stay on time (with a built-in timer) right from your mobile device. Check out the Help Center for more information.
Launch Details Release track: Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release
Rollout pace: Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)
We recently completed the cross-platform rollout of a feature allowing Google Apps customers to share links to Hangouts video calls so that external meeting guests may request to join if not explicitly invited. Previously, video calls shared with the link required someone in the Apps domain of the Hangout video call to accept those requesting access on the web. With today’s launch, we’ve enabled this accept or reject functionality in the latest version of the Hangouts iOS app. To accept or reject a request to join a video call on your mobile device, tap the ‘Accept’ or ‘Decline’ button in the pop-up screen that appears when a guest is requesting to join.
This functionality is coming soon to the Hangouts Android app. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information: Help Center Get the latest Hangouts app in the App Store Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted
For a richer experience when presenting screen-shared content, today we’re launching full-view screen sharing for Google Hangouts. Moving forward, when people using Hangouts present to meeting participants in ‘Present to everyone’ mode─or another participant pins someone who is screen-sharing─Hangouts participants will see two changes to the user interface:
The screen shared content will use as much visible area of the screen as possible. The thumbnail photos of meeting attendees will overlay the content at the bottom of the screen by default.
A new button will be added to the control bar at the top to allow participants to hide the thumbnail photos of meeting attendees as desired.
Check out the Help Center for more information. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information: Help Center Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted
Google Hangouts provides an end-to-end chat solution for Google Apps customers, allowing people within an organization to securely communicate with one another across all devices and platforms. Today we’re adding two new policy options for Apps admins to give them greater control of how Hangouts chat is used in their domains, as well as introducing Google Apps Vault for Hangouts. New chat policy options Admins will now see two new options in the Hangouts chat settings in the Admin console, allowing them to:
Force Hangouts chat history to be on or off
Require only Hangouts chat to be used
While admins could previously default all Hangouts chat conversation history to on or off, chat participants could change this on a per-conversation basis. With this new feature, admins can ensure chat participants cannot change this setting for new conversations. This also means that participants with Hangouts chat history forced on will not be able to communicate with participants with chat history forced off. To enforce the Hangouts chat history policy, the new Hangouts chat only option must be selected. Please note that chat within Docs and Hangouts video calls will not be available for those customers who select the Hangouts chat only option. In addition, third party chat clients will not work with the Hangouts chat only option enabled.
Vault for Hangouts Google Apps Vault lets you retain, archive, search, and export user data for your eDiscovery and compliance needs. With today’s launch, we’ll now extend Vault to support Hangouts chat history. For customers already using Vault, full chat retention for all messages will start automatically once chat history is forced on using the new setting. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information: Help Center: New chat policies Help Center: Vault for Hangouts Google for Work blog post Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted
Last year, we announced a new feature for Hangouts on the web allowing Google Apps customers to share links to Hangouts video calls so that external meeting guests may request to join if not explicitly invited. We recently announced this functionality for iOS as well. Today, we’re announcing that this functionality has been added to the Hangouts Android app and to Chromebox for Meetings devices. Android The latest release of the Hangouts Android app now allows external guests using the app to join Hangouts video calls from their mobile device with a meeting link provided by the organizer. Video calls that are shared with the link require someone in the Apps domain of the Hangout video call to accept those requesting access on the web. Chromebox for Meetings devices People can now use their Chromebox for Meetings devices to both request to join Hangouts video calls as a guest using a link, and accept requests from guests wishing to join using a link. To join a Hangouts video call from your Chromebox for Meetings device, enter the domain in which the meeting is hosted followed by a ‘/’ and the meeting name (e.g. altostrat.com/meeting-name). As before, if the meeting is hosted in your organization, the domain name is not necessary. To see and accept or reject a request from outside your organization, the meeting must be in ‘shared with the link’ mode. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release (gradual rollout) For more information: Help Center Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted
In September 2013, we announced our plan to remove NPAPI support from Chrome, a change that will improve Chrome’s security, speed and stability. We gave some more details on timing and expected changes last November. The first of those changes will take place with the launch of Chrome 40 to the stable channel, currently planned for next week. Currently Chrome supports NPAPI plugins, but with the exception of a small number of whitelisted extensions―including Google Talk―they are blocked by default unless the user chooses to allow them. With the launch of Chrome 40 to the stable channel, we’ll no longer use the whitelist to allow certain NPAPI plugins to run without requiring user approval. As a result, people using Google Talk on Chrome 40 will see a ‘Plug-in blocked’ notification in their browser bar, requiring a one-time approval in order for the Talk service, specifically audio calls, to function. The approval will be recorded and remembered. If this approval is not granted, users will also be prompted to run the plugin within the Talk UI when attempting to make or receive calls. When we launch Chrome 41 to the stable channel in March, this approval will be required every time the browser is loaded and with the launch of Chrome 42 in April, NPAPI support will be disabled by default in Chrome. At that time, audio calls in Talk will start operating through the Hangouts dialer (and will require Google Voice to be enabled for standard telephone calls. Hangouts Chat does not need to be enabled for the Hangouts dialer to work).
In preparation for these upcoming changes, Apps admins from domains using Google Talk on Chrome 40 should inform their users to expect to see the ‘Plug-in blocked’ notifications. Longer term, this is a useful opportunity for admins to consider switching from Talk to Hangouts Chat, which does not require a plugin on Chrome. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted
To make it easier to find and connect with your work contacts in Hangouts in Gmail, we’ll now display them as a distinct group as you start typing in the search box. The work contacts will appear below any contacts (work or personal) that you regularly Hangout with, so you can always find your most frequently contacted colleagues and friends. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information: Help Center Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted
To make it easier to know when people using Hangouts are available to chat, we’ve added timestamps as part of status (e.g. ‘last seen 2h ago’), indicating when one was last using Hangouts: Individuals can control whether this info is shared from Hangouts chat settings. This feature is now available on Hangouts in Gmail (gradual rollout), as well as on the latest versions of the Hangouts Android and iOS apps. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:
As launched recently for Hangouts in Gmail, the latest version of the Google Hangouts iOS app now includes the ability to add custom status messages and see the status messages of others in the Contacts view. Status messages can be added via the settings menu. Note: status messages shared on one device will also apply to other devices on which one is signed in with their Hangouts account. This feature is coming soon for the Hangouts Android app. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information: Help Center
Last year, we announced a new feature for Hangouts on the web allowing Google Apps customers to share links to Hangouts video calls so that external meeting guests may request to join if not explicitly invited. This feature helps external guests avoid errors when joining with alternate Google accounts. The latest release of the Hangouts iOS app now has the same functionality, allowing external guests using the app to join Hangouts video calls from their mobile device with a meeting link provided by the organizer. Notes:
Anyone in the same domain as the Hangout can make a video call externally accessible with the link
Video calls that are shared with the link require someone in the Apps domain of the Hangout video call to accept those requesting access on the web
This feature will be coming soon to the Hangouts Android app. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information: Help Center Get the Hangouts iOS app in the App Store Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted
