Tag Archives: Google Slides

Google Workspace Add-ons now generally available in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides

Quick Summary 

Google Workplace Add-ons are now available for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Google Workspace Add-ons are already available for Calendar, Gmail, and Google Drive.


Google Workspace Add-ons allow you to use third-party applications within Google Workspace, helping you get work done faster without switching from one app to another. 

Organizations can also create add-ons using Apps Script or alternative runtimes — use the Google Workspace Developer guide for add-ons to learn more about building add-ons. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers and users with personal accounts.  

Resources 

New default video playback option in Google Slides

Quick launch summary 

We’re updating the default way videos play when you present in Google Slides. Now, the video will start playing when you click to advance the presentation. Previously, the presenter had to specifically click on the video to start playing. 

With this launch, there are now three options to control playback: 
  • Play (on click) - Video will play when you advance the slide. (This is the new default option.) 
  • Play (automatically) - Video will play without you clicking to advance. 
  • Play (manual) - Video will play when you click specifically on the embedded video in the slide while presenting. (This was previously the default.) 

The new play on click option works the same way as any other animation or slide transition. When you’re presenting a slide with an embedded video, advance the slide by pressing a key, clicking a mouse, or using a remote clicker, and the video will start playing. You can adjust the sequence the video plays in the animations sidebar, so you can coordinate playback with other animations on the slide. 


Note that this change in default behavior will only apply to videos inserted after the launch takes place. Videos already in presentations will not change playback type automatically, but you can change them manually in the format options. 


The new default will help make presentations flow better and reduce distractions, so presenters can focus on content rather than where they have to click. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default and can be turned off for any video in video format options. Visit the Help Center to learn more about videos in Slides. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers and users with personal accounts 

Resources

Access checker for Slides now checks permissions when you share with new users

Quick launch summary 

Access checker in Google Slides ensures viewers and presenters can play videos and audio files as expected. By automatically offering access suggestions for embedded content, users can create, present, and consume without needing to adjust permissions manually, and can be confident all users will have a seamless presentation experience. 


Earlier this year, we announced that Access checker would check permissions when you inserted Drive-stored audio and video files in Google Slides. With this launch, we’ll also perform an access check for already embedded audio and video content after you share the presentation with additional users or groups. Specifically, when you close the sharing dialog, Access checker will run and may suggest permission changes for multiple Drive video and audio files in the presentation. 


This additional functionality will help ensure all viewers and editors of the presentation will get a consistent experience. See our previous announcement for more information on Access checker in Slides. 



Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

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

Resources 

Roadmap 

Access checker for Slides now checks permissions when you share with new users

Quick launch summary 

Access checker in Google Slides ensures viewers and presenters can play videos and audio files as expected. By automatically offering access suggestions for embedded content, users can create, present, and consume without needing to adjust permissions manually, and can be confident all users will have a seamless presentation experience. 


Earlier this year, we announced that Access checker would check permissions when you inserted Drive-stored audio and video files in Google Slides. With this launch, we’ll also perform an access check for already embedded audio and video content after you share the presentation with additional users or groups. Specifically, when you close the sharing dialog, Access checker will run and may suggest permission changes for multiple Drive video and audio files in the presentation. 


This additional functionality will help ensure all viewers and editors of the presentation will get a consistent experience. See our previous announcement for more information on Access checker in Slides. 



Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers and users with personal accounts 

Resources 

Roadmap 

Office editing on Android brings G Suite collaboration to Microsoft Office files

Quick launch summary 

We’re making Office editing available on Android. This feature brings the collaborative and assistive features of G Suite to your Microsoft Office files when you’re using your Android device. Already available on the web, it: 
  • Allows you to edit, comment, and collaborate on Microsoft Office files using Google Docs’, Sheets’, and Slides’ powerful real-time collaboration tools. 
  • Improves sharing options, improves sharing controls, and reduces the need to download and email file attachments. 
  • Streamlines workflows by reducing the need to convert file types. 
Office editing will replace QuickOffice (sometimes known as Office Compatibility Mode), which has more limited functionality and collaboration capabilities. See more about Office editing in our announcement for the feature on the web. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all G Suite customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Office editing on Android brings G Suite collaboration to Microsoft Office files

Quick launch summary 

We’re making Office editing available on Android. This feature brings the collaborative and assistive features of G Suite to your Microsoft Office files when you’re using your Android device. Already available on the web, it: 
  • Allows you to edit, comment, and collaborate on Microsoft Office files using Google Docs’, Sheets’, and Slides’ powerful real-time collaboration tools. 
  • Improves sharing options, improves sharing controls, and reduces the need to download and email file attachments. 
  • Streamlines workflows by reducing the need to convert file types. 
Office editing will replace QuickOffice (sometimes known as Office Compatibility Mode), which has more limited functionality and collaboration capabilities. See more about Office editing in our announcement for the feature on the web. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all G Suite customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Collaborate with people who are not using a Google account in Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Sites

What’s changing 

We’re making visitor sharing—secure, pincode-based collaboration with people who do not have a Google account—generally available. This means you can share items with non-Google accounts, enabling them to view, comment on, or edit content in Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Sites using a secure pincode. 

Visitor sharing was previously available in beta, and will replace the current admin setting to allow users in your organization to send sharing invitations.  '

We’ll introduce the new feature according to this timeline: 
  • August 31, 2020: The setting to control sharing with people who are not using a Google account will begin to appear in the Admin console. This setting may be on or off by default depending on your current settings. See “Getting started” below to learn more. This setting will not start taking effect for users until September 8, 2020 (for Rapid release domains) or September 28, 2020 (for Scheduled release domains). 
  • September 8, 2020: Users in Rapid Release domains will be able to use the new feature, if enabled by their admin. 
  • September 28, 2020: Users in Scheduled Release domains will be able to use the new feature, if enabled by their admin. 

Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 


Why you’d use it 

G Suite customers often work with partners outside of their company. These external users, or “visitors,” don’t always have Google accounts, making it more difficult for G Suite and non-Google users to collaborate seamlessly and securely. 

This new feature will help ensure smooth and secure collaboration with visitors through: 
  • Rich collaboration—including comments, edits, and more⁠—with anyone you need to work with, regardless of whether they have a Google account. 
  • Audit logging for collaboration with visitors, so that all interactions are monitored and recorded. 
  • Ability to revoke access and remove collaborators as needed. 
  • Reduced need to download, email, or create separate files to work with external users who don’t have Google accounts. 
If the visitor chooses to create a G Suite account with their email address, their collaboration and activity history will be preserved after the account is created. 



Additional details 

Visitor sharing will not be supported for Cloud Identity users. With this launch, Cloud Identity users will only be able to share with non-Google recipients by sending invites that allow users to preview file contents in a read-only mode without signing in to Google accounts. 


Getting started 

Admins: 
  • Sharing outside of your organization to users with non-Google accounts will be ON by default if you currently allow users in your organization to send sharing invitations to people outside your organization who are not using a Google account.
  • Sharing outside of your organization to users with non-Google accounts will be OFF by default if you currently do not do not allow sharing outside your organization, or use domain whitelisting, Use our Help Center to learn more about sharing to non-Google accounts. 
  • Visitor sharing will be controlled by new settings at Admin console > Apps > G Suite > Drive and Docs > Sharing Settings. See image below. The new settings can be controlled at the domain or OU level. 


End users: Visit our Help Center to learn more about visitor sharing. Visitors can use our Help Center to learn how to delete their visitor session. 



Rollout pace 

Admin console setting: 
End user feature availability: 

Availability 

  • Available to G Suite Business, G Suite Enterprise, G Suite for Education, G Suite Enterprise for Education, G Suite for Nonprofits, and G Suite Essentials customers 
  • Not available to G Suite Basic, Cloud Identity customers, or users with personal accounts 

Resources 

Roadmap 

Review presentations more quickly with new viewing interface on Google Slides Android app

Quick launch summary 

We’re improving the mobile viewing experience for Google Slides on Android. Rather than swiping to view slides one by one, you can now: 
  • Scroll through a vertical stream of slides. 
  • Pinch to zoom to get a closer look. 
  • Easily switch to editing, presenting, or casting content. 
This enables you to see more information at once, which can help you review slides faster. Read our Cloud Blog post to learn more about how these and other launches can help you collaborate from anywhere, with Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides on mobile.

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: To use the feature, open a presentation in the Slides app on Android. Visit our Help Center to learn more about how to use Google Slides on Android. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all G Suite customers and users with personal accounts. 

Resources 

Access checker for Slides ensures inserted video and audio is playable

What’s changing 

Access checker is a feature in Gmail and Google Chat that ensures the recipients of a Drive file have permission to access it. We're now expanding Access checker to Google Slides, to make sure that anyone who is viewing or presenting a Slides presentation can play embedded videos and audio files. 

When you insert a video or audio file that is stored in Drive into Slides, Access checker will automatically look to see if the people who have access to the presentation also have access to the audio or video file you just inserted. If they don’t, Access checker will suggest changing the permissions for the audio or video file so that all viewers, commenters, editors, and owners of the presentation will be able to see and hear its content. 

We are also working toward launching functionality in the future that will perform an access check for all Drive video and audio files in the presentation after you share the presentation with additional users. At that point, we may suggest permission changes for multiple files used in the presentation. We will post any updates about this in-progress feature on the G Suite Updates Blog. 


Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why it’s important 

When a user can’t play videos and audio files within a presentation, it can be disruptive. When presenting, it can be an awkward or negative experience for the presenter. However, manually checking that permissions are correct before presenting or distributing a presentation is time-consuming. By adding Access checker to Google Slides, we’re making it easier to ensure all viewers of the presentation will get a complete experience. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 4, 2020 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 26, 2020 

Availability 

  • Available to all G Suite customers and users with personal accounts. 

Resources 

Access checker for Slides ensures inserted video and audio is playable

What’s changing 

Access checker is a feature in Gmail and Google Chat that ensures the recipients of a Drive file have permission to access it. We're now expanding Access checker to Google Slides, to make sure that anyone who is viewing or presenting a Slides presentation can play embedded videos and audio files. 

When you insert a video or audio file that is stored in Drive into Slides, Access checker will automatically look to see if the people who have access to the presentation also have access to the audio or video file you just inserted. If they don’t, Access checker will suggest changing the permissions for the audio or video file so that all viewers, commenters, editors, and owners of the presentation will be able to see and hear its content. 

We are also working toward launching functionality in the future that will perform an access check for all Drive video and audio files in the presentation after you share the presentation with additional users. At that point, we may suggest permission changes for multiple files used in the presentation. We will post any updates about this in-progress feature on the G Suite Updates Blog. 


Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why it’s important 

When a user can’t play videos and audio files within a presentation, it can be disruptive. When presenting, it can be an awkward or negative experience for the presenter. However, manually checking that permissions are correct before presenting or distributing a presentation is time-consuming. By adding Access checker to Google Slides, we’re making it easier to ensure all viewers of the presentation will get a complete experience. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 4, 2020 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 26, 2020 

Availability 

  • Available to all G Suite customers and users with personal accounts. 

Resources