Tag Archives: Google Slides

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – March 10, 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.


Additional details for the updated Gmail experience on Android foldable devices and tablets 
Last month, we announced an improved Chat, Meet, and Gmail experience on Android foldable devices and tablets. To provide additional details on functionality, Gmail supports a 2-pane view in landscape orientation only. | This is now available. | Learn more. 


Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.


Indicate your Google Voice availability with more options
We’re making it easier for you to indicate your availability in Google Voice on web and mobile. Previously, you could only indicate your availability for all of your ring groups. This update gives you greater flexibility to manage your Ring Group availability in Google Voice, without the need to sign-out of Voice or block all incoming calls using “Do Not Disturb”. | Available to Google Voice Standard and Premier customers only. | Learn more. 


Refreshed interface for Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides
In the coming weeks, you’ll notice a new look and feel for Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides on the web. Following the release of Google Material Design 3, the refreshed user interface is purposefully designed to streamline core collaboration journeys across our products. | Learn more. 


New updates for Google Meet on Poly Android-based appliances
We are rolling out updates to Google Meet to support our upcoming launch of Google Meet on Poly Android-based appliances. Within the Google admin console, admins can enroll Poly devices and include reporting of these new appliances. The Google Meet hardware experience will become available in the upcoming Poly OS 4.0 update as part of the Poly Studio X series family. | Learn more.


Managed Android devices must upgrade to Android Device Policy during March 2023
In 2019, we announced that a new Android management client, Android Device Policy, would replace the legacy Google Apps Device Policy client. We’re now in the final stages of this upgrade. All devices with the Google Apps Device Policy will lose access during March 2023 if they have not already upgraded. | 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.


Refreshed interface for Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides

What’s changing 

In the coming weeks, you’ll notice a new look and feel for Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides on the web. Following the release of Google Material Design 3, the refreshed user interface is purposefully designed to streamline core collaboration journeys across our products. 

In Docs, Sheets, and Slides, you’ll see improvements such as: 
  • A simplified user interface at the top of your docs, sheets, and slides, helping you find frequently used actions faster 
  • Additional user experience improvements in commenting, background, rulers, and gridlines. 
  • Note that while there are no changes in functionality, some features have been relocated to reduce clutter within the new interface. Notably, you can find the latest status info for the doc, such as last edit and version history, via a single entry point: the clock icon in the top right corner.



In Drive, you’ll see improvements such as:
  • Key actions surfaced inline on files, for quick access and increased productivity. 
  • Ability to select multiple items at a time and undertake batch operations for frequent tasks.
  • New search chips (including type, owner, and last modified) to help you find files faster.




Who’s impacted

End users

Why it matters 

These key visual and interactive design changes will help you get your best work done faster by emphasizing the tools within our products used most frequently. For more information, check out the latest on the Workspace blog.

Rollout pace


Availability


  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
  • Available to users with personal Google accounts


Resources


Introducing Trusted Types in Google Workspace

What’s changing

We’re improving the client-side security of Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, Jamboard, Drawings, and Drive with Trusted Types. This will provide an extra layer of protection around Document Object Model (DOM) APIs that are used by the apps listed above or third-party extensions. 

This new enforcement mode will require third-party extensions to use typed objects instead of strings when assigning values to DOM APIs, and will begin rolling out on March 23, 2023. Once Trusted Types are fully enforced, the Trusted Types directive will be present in the Content Security Policy (CSP) header: 

Who’s impacted

Developers (relying on any Chrome extensions that modify DOM APIs.) 


Why it’s important

Trusted Types is a feature that further enhances our advanced data protection controls to keep users and data safe across more of the apps they use everyday. 


Additional details 

Screen readers, braille devices, and screen magnification will not change with Trusted Types. However, we recommend admins and developers check third party extensions for Trusted Types violations. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Accessibility for Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, & Drawings. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • Developers: 
    • To make code Trusted Types compliant, signal to the browser that data being used within the context of these DOM APIs is trustworthy by creating a Trusted Type special object. 
    • There are several ways to be Trusted Types compliant, such as removing the offending code, using a library, or creating a Trusted Types policy. To ensure a seamless experience for users, these techniques can be employed before Trusted Types enforcement is rolled out. 
    • Visit the Chrome DevTools engineering blog to learn more about implementing CSP and Trusted Types debugging in Chrome DevTools. 
  • End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – February 3, 2023

3 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.


In-line replies for email notifications in Google Classroom 
We’re making Classroom email notifications more functional and easier to use. With in-line replies for comments, teachers and students will be able to easily stay up to date and respond to communication within Classroom. Public and private comment notifications will have the freshest information, like the latest comment threads, and you can now easily respond to comments within the email itself. This will enable teachers to quickly reply to their students without having to switch back and forth between their email and Classroom. | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains began January 30, 2023 and is expected to be completed by February 20, 2023. | Available to Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers, and users with personal Google Accounts only. | Learn more. 

Expanding color options in Google Slides, Docs, Sheets and Drawings
In Google Slides, Docs, Sheets and Drawings, you can now select colors in the color palette tool by using RGBA values. In addition, you can also customize colors by using an eyedropper tool and selecting any color on your screen within the color palette. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for February 15, 2023. | Learn more. 
More ways to work with BigQuery data in Google Sheets
We’re expanding your ability to access, analyze, visualize, and share billions of rows of BigQuery data from Google Sheets:
Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts only. Not available to legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers.


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.


Google Sheets adds powerful new functions for advanced analysis
We announced 11 additional functions that will introduce new concepts, provide you with more efficient functions, and help with more advanced analysis | Learn more.


Explore Looker data using Connected Sheets
We added the ability to interactively explore modeled data from Looker, Google Cloud’s modern business intelligence platform, using Connected Sheets. | 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 Nonprofits, as well as users with personal Google Accounts 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: 

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).

View speaker notes while presenting Google Slides in Google Meet

What’s changing

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. 

Simply click the new speaker notes button in the Slides controls bar in Meet to display your speaker notes within the call. Present with greater confidence and engage with your audience without having to context switch between notes and slides. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • Select "Present a Tab" in Meet > choose a Google Slide presentation > click the speaker notes button in the controls at the bottom corner of the presentation. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about controlling Slides presentations in Google Meet. 

Rollout pace 


Availability ​​

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

Resources 

Improvements to voice features in Google Docs and Slides

What’s changing

We’re improving the features that enable you to: 
These enhancements will help reduce transcription errors and minimize lost audio during transcription. The improvements also include expanded availability to most major browsers. Additionally, captions in Slides will now contain automatically generated punctuation.


Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why it’s important 

We hope this launch leads to more inclusive and accessible user interactions within Docs and Slides. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 9, 2022

New updates 

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers. 




See collaborator avatars in the toolbar of apps on Android devices 
In continuation of our efforts to improve the Google Workspace experience on large screen Android devices, we’re moving collaborator avatars from the overflow menu into the app toolbar at the top of your Android tablets and mobile devices. 
widgets on android
Pin table headers when using pageless format on Google Docs 
When your Google Doc is set to the pageless format, you can now pin one or more table rows as header rows. When you scroll vertically past the top of the table, the headers will remain visible at the top of the window until you scroll to the bottom of the table. | Learn more. 
pinned headers
Easily share files in Google Meet chat on web 
Currently, when you share the link to a Google Drive file in Meet chat, you have to ensure the document is shared with those on the call, either proactively or reactively, on a separate screen. Starting this week, when sharing a file in Meet chat, you will now be prompted to update the file sharing permissions to reflect which meeting attendees you’d like to have access to a particular file, all within Meet. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains began December 5, 2022 at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). | Learn more. 


Warning banners for external email recipients on iOS devices
Beginning today, you'll see a warning banner when adding external recipients to an email on iOS. These warnings are already available for Gmail on the web and Android devices. Note that admins can turn these specific warning labels on or off for their organization. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains began December 9, 2022 at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). 


Improvements for using Miro in Google Meet
We've made two enhancements for the Miro experience within Google Meet:
  • Meeting participants will see a dialog invite instead of a chat message asking them to join a whiteboarding session.
  • Meeting hosts now have the option to end collaboration for the group as a whole. Alternatively, meeting participants will have the ability to leave the session individually.
We hope these improvements create a smoother collaborative experience when using Miro within Google Meet. | Learn more here and here.






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.



More ways to prevent data exfiltration on iOS devices 
In 2020, we released several data exfiltration protections for iOS devices. Today, we’re announcing the next set of enhancements for data exfiltration protections for iOS. We’re expanding these security controls to give admins more ways to protect sensitive company data on iOS devices. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise for Education, and Cloud Identity Premium customers only. | Learn more. 


New default setting for content managers to modify shared drives coming in February 2023 
Starting this week, admins will see a new shared drive setting that can be enabled or disabled to give content managers the ability to share folders in shared drives. In February 2023, all content managers will have the ability to share folders by default. If you’d like this feature to remain off for end users, disable the setting now. | 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. 


Create drop-down chips in Google Sheets 
We’ve added dropdown chips in Google Sheets, a custom formatting feature that is already available in Docs. They also enable you to easily indicate statuses or various project milestones outlined in your Sheet. | Learn more. 


Collaborate with colleagues in Google Slides through a new ‘Follow’ feature
We’re introducing a new ‘Follow’ feature that allows you to collaborate with colleagues in real-time on Google Slides. Simply, click on a collaborator’s avatar in the Slides toolbar to jump to whatever slide they are on, and continue to move with them as they navigate and make changes to a presentation. | Learn more.



Completed feature rollouts


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


Rapid Release Domains:


Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:




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

Collaborate with colleagues in Google Slides through a new ‘Follow’ feature

What’s changing 

We’re introducing a new ‘Follow’ feature that allows you to collaborate with colleagues in real-time on Google Slides. Building upon the existing feature to see what slide your colleague is on, you can now click on a collaborator’s avatar in the Slides toolbar to jump to whatever slide they are on, and continue to move with them as they navigate and make changes to a presentation. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default. To follow a collaborator, click their avatar in the Slides toolbar. If you hover over a followed avatar, a “Following” badge will appear. To stop following a collaborator, click on their avatar again. 
    • You will also stop following the collaborator if: 
      • The collaborator refreshes or leaves the presentation. 
      • You make any edits to the presentation. 
      • You click a different slide. 
      • You enter Slideshow mode. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about following a collaboration on Google Slides. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – November 25, 2022

New updates 

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers. 



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

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


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

Previous announcements


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