Tag Archives: Google Workspace Marketplace

Year in review: the Google Workspace Platform 2021

Posted by Charles Maxson, Developer Advocate

In 2021, we saw many changes and improvements to the Google Workspace Platform geared at helping developers build new solutions to keep up with the challenges of how we worked, like hybrid and fully remote office work. More than ever, we needed tools for virtual collaboration and digital processes to keep our work going. As paper processes in the office were less viable and we continued to go see digital transformations become necessary, many new custom solutions like desk reservation systems and automated test logging have evolved.

2021 was also a year for Platform milestones, Google Workspace grew to more than 3 billion users globally, we reached more than 5,300 public apps in the Google Workspace Marketplace, and we crossed over 4.8 billion apps installed (up from 1 billion in 2020)! We were also busy bringing Platform innovations and improving our developer experience to help building for Google Workspace easier and faster. Here’s a look at some of the key enhancements the Google Workspace Platform brought to the developer community.

Google Cloud Champion Innovators program

Community building is one of the most effective ways to support developers, which is why we created Google Cloud Innovators.This new community program was designed for developers and technical practitioners using Google Cloud and we welcome everyone.

And when we say everyone, it’s not just professional developers, data scientists, or student developers and hobbyists, we also mean non-technical end users. The growing Google community has something for everyone.

GWAO Alternate Runtimes goes GA

Google Workspace Add-ons are customized applications that tightly integrate with Google Workspace applications, and can be found in the Google Workspace Marketplace, or built specifically for your own domain. The development of these applications were limited to using Apps Script, our native scripting language for the Google Workspace Platform. With the launch of Alternate Runtimes you can now develop add-ons with your preferred hosting infrastructure, development tool chain, source control system, coding language, and code libraries; it was a highly requested update from the developer community, opening up the Platform to many new developer scenarios.

Card Builder UI Application

The GWAO Card Builder tool allows you to visually design the user interfaces for your Google Workspace Add-ons and Google Chat apps projects. It is a must-have for Google Workspace developers using either Apps Script or Alternate Runtimes, enabling you to prototype and design Card UIs super fast without hassle and errors of hand coding JSON or Apps Script on your own.

Card Builder tool for building Google Workspace Add-ons and Chat Apps

Recommended for Google Workspace

This program showcases a selection of market-leading applications built by software vendors across a wide range of categories, including project management, customer support, and finance in our Google Workspace Marketplace. These apps undergo rigorous usability and security testing to make sure they meet our requirements for high quality integrations. They must also have an exemplary track record of user satisfaction, reliability, and privacy.

Recommended for Google Workspace program showcases high quality applications

Chat Slash Commands and Dialogs

Slash commands simplify the way users interact with your Chat bot, offering them a visual leading way to discover and execute your bot’s primary features. As a developer, slash commands are straightforward to implement, and essential in offering a better bot experience. In addition to Slash Commands, Dialogs were a new capability introduced to the Chat App framework that allows developers to build user interfaces to capture inputs and parameters in a structured, reliable way. This was a tremendous step forward for bot usability because it simplified and streamlined the process of users interacting with bot commands. Now with dialogs, users can be led visually to supply inputs via prompts, versus having to rely on wrapping bot commands with natural language inputs.

Forms API beta

Google Forms enables easy creation and distribution of forms, surveys, and quizzes. Forms is used for a wide variety of use cases across business operations, customer management, event planning and logistics, education, and more. With the Google Forms API Beta announcement, developers were able to provide programmatic access for managing forms and acting on responses, empowering developers to build powerful integrations on top of Forms.

Google Workspace Marketplace updates

We made many updates to the Google Workspace Marketplace to improve both the user and developer experience. We added updates to the application detail page that included pricing and when the listing was last updated. The homepage also saw improvements with various curated categories by the Google team under Editor’s Choice. Finally, we launched the marketplace badges for developers to promote their published applications on websites and marketing channels. Oh, and we also had a logo update if you hadn’t noticed.

Google Workspace Marketplace Badges for application promotion

Farewell 2021 and here’s to welcoming in 2022

2021 brought us many innovations to the Google Workspace Platform to help developers address the needs of their users and it also brought more empowerment to knowledge workers to build the solutions they needed with our no-code and low-code platforms. These are just the highlights for the Google Workspace Platform and we look forward to more innovation in 2022. To keep up with all the news about the Platform, please subscribe to our newsletter.

Promote your Google Workspace Marketplace apps with the new badge for developers

Posted by Elena Kingbo, Program Manager

Recently, Google Workspace Marketplace launched new features for developers to improve the application search and evaluation experience in the Marketplace for our Google Workspace admins and end users.

Continuing with updates to further improve the developer experience, we are excited to announce Google Workspace Marketplace badges.

The new badges will allow developers to promote their published Google Workspace Marketplace applications on their own websites. Users will be taken directly to the Marketplace application listing, where they can review application details, privacy policy, terms of service, and more. These users will then be able to securely install applications directly from the Google Workspace Marketplace.

This promotional tool can help you reach more potential users and grow your business. By being part of the Google Workspace Marketplace ecosystem, you receive direct access to the more than 3 billion Google Workspace users, where they can browse, search, and install solutions they need. To date, we've seen a stunning 4.8 billion apps installed in Google Workspace, transforming the way users connect, create, and collaborate.

The new Google Workspace Marketplace badge for developers.

Use the badge to show your existing and potential customers where they can find your application, backed by Google Workspace’s industry-leading standards of quality, security, and compliance. For developers with products available globally, the badge is available in 29 languages including Arabic, Spanish, Vietnamese, and more.

The new Google Workspace Marketplace badge creation page for developers.

Refresh your Marketplace application listing and marketing assets

When you are ready to incorporate the new badge onto your website to feature your Marketplace app, we recommend that you also review the creatives and information used in your app’s listing in the Google Workspace Marketplace. You should also include well designed feature graphics in your listing and localize your featured graphics, screenshots, and description to improve conversions globally.

Stay on top of developer news

To make sure you’re aware of the latest Google Workspace Platform updates for developers, make sure you subscribe to our Google Workspace Developers Newsletter for monthly updates, follow @workspacedevs, and join in on the community conversation.

Admins can install Google Workspace Marketplace applications for specific groups

Quick launch summary

Admins can now install Google Workspace Marketplace applications for specific groups in their organization using the new “admin-install” functionality (formerly known as “domain-install”). Previously, admin-installing applications from the Google Workspace Marketplace was only possible for organizational units or an entire domain.



This is useful in situations where only a subset of your users need to have the app installed, for example CRM applications required for your sales and marketing groups or e-signature applications required for your legal teams. 

Getting started



Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials customers

Resources


App pricing, update details, and Editor’s choice now available on Google Workspace Marketplace.

Posted by Mike Rhemtulla, Product Manager

Banner image that shows the Google Workspace logo

Google Workspace Marketplace is proud to announce the availability for developers to display pricing for their applications published in the Google Workspace Marketplace, and the date their application listing was last updated.

Launched over 11 years ago, Google Workspace Marketplace has been helping developers connect with the more than 3 billion people who use Google Workspace—with a stunning 4.8 billion apps installed to date. That incredible demand is fueling innovation in the ecosystem, and we now have more than 5300 public apps available in the Google Workspace Marketplace, plus thousands more private apps that customers have built for themselves.

App Pricing

For developers, you can now specify the app pricing choosing from Free, Paid with a Free trial, Paid with free features or Paid. The app pricing can be updated in the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK - Store Listing tab. We encourage you to specify this in order to provide more information about your Marketplace application for Workspace administrators and end users to evaluate and install your app.

Screenshot of app pricing drop down menu shows different pricing models to choose from

Developers can select which app pricing model is available to users

Screenshot of additional information section now shows pricing

Pricing will now be shown in the application information in Google Workspace Marketplace

App listing update

When a developer updates the app listing or configuration in the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK, administrators and users are now able to see when the application listing was last updated by the developer.

Screenshot of app listing shows a date when the listing was last updated

When the application listing was last updated will now be shown in the application details in Google Workspace Marketplace

Editor’s choice

We have also added a new Editor’s choice section in the Google Workspace Marketplace. This new section has three curated categories; Work from everywhere, these apps help your organization be more productive, Business essentials, these apps help increase workflow productivity, and Apps to discover, these apps are new and innovative. You can find out more about the eligibility for these categories here.

Screenshot shows new Editor's Choice section in Google Workpace Marketplace

New “Editor’s choice” section contains three curated categories in Google Workspace Marketplace

If you’d like to stay informed about updates like these and others to the Google Workspace platform please subscribe to the developer newsletter. And find us at Next ‘21, where we have sessions, demos, and labs covering the latest updates to the Google Workspace platform.

App pricing, update details, and Editor’s choice now available on Google Workspace Marketplace.

Posted by Mike Rhemtulla, Product Manager

Banner image that shows the Google Workspace logo

Google Workspace Marketplace is proud to announce the availability for developers to display pricing for their applications published in the Google Workspace Marketplace, and the date their application listing was last updated.

Launched over 11 years ago, Google Workspace Marketplace has been helping developers connect with the more than 3 billion people who use Google Workspace—with a stunning 4.8 billion apps installed to date. That incredible demand is fueling innovation in the ecosystem, and we now have more than 5300 public apps available in the Google Workspace Marketplace, plus thousands more private apps that customers have built for themselves.

App Pricing

For developers, you can now specify the app pricing choosing from Free, Paid with a Free trial, Paid with free features or Paid. The app pricing can be updated in the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK - Store Listing tab. We encourage you to specify this in order to provide more information about your Marketplace application for Workspace administrators and end users to evaluate and install your app.

Screenshot of app pricing drop down menu shows different pricing models to choose from

Developers can select which app pricing model is available to users

Screenshot of additional information section now shows pricing

Pricing will now be shown in the application information in Google Workspace Marketplace

App listing update

When a developer updates the app listing or configuration in the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK, administrators and users are now able to see when the application listing was last updated by the developer.

Screenshot of app listing shows a date when the listing was last updated

When the application listing was last updated will now be shown in the application details in Google Workspace Marketplace

Editor’s choice

We have also added a new Editor’s choice section in the Google Workspace Marketplace. This new section has three curated categories; Work from everywhere, these apps help your organization be more productive, Business essentials, these apps help increase workflow productivity, and Apps to discover, these apps are new and innovative. You can find out more about the eligibility for these categories here.

Screenshot shows new Editor's Choice section in Google Workpace Marketplace

New “Editor’s choice” section contains three curated categories in Google Workspace Marketplace

If you’d like to stay informed about updates like these and others to the Google Workspace platform please subscribe to the developer newsletter. And find us at Next ‘21, where we have sessions, demos, and labs covering the latest updates to the Google Workspace platform.

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – August 13, 2021

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.


New Categories in Google Workspace Marketplace
Four manually curated categories have been added to the Google Workspace Marketplace: Business essentials, Work from everywhere, Apps to discover, Tools for teachers. A left navigation menu will be included to show new categories. 

You'll notice new categories in the Google Workspace Marketplace, which allows users to sort through specific categories to find relevant add-ons.

Updated emoji experience in Google Chat on iOS
It’s now easier to express yourself more authentically in Chat on iOS. We’re making the following updates to the emoji experience: The Emoji set is updated to the latest version (Emoji 13.1), reflecting the latest emoji set and diversity and inclusion options; Gender-neutral options for gender-modifiable emojis have been added; Emoji skin tone and gender preferences are saved per individual emoji.


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.

Reminder: Google Meet support for IE11 ending August 17, 2021
Beginning August 17, 2021, you will no longer be able to use Google Meet on IE11. To avoid disruption, please switch to a supported browser before that date. | Learn more. 


Easily switch between lists in Google Tasks on mobile
We have now updated the current Tasks Mobile user interface to display multiple lists at the same time in a tabbed UI. | Learn more.


Add up to 25 co-hosts per meeting and expanded safety features for Google Meet
We’re expanding meeting moderation controls in Google Meet with several highly requested features, including assigning co-hosts, new safety features, and more. | See the original announcement for more details and full availability. | Learn more.


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

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – July 2, 2021

New updates 

Spelling autocorrect is now available when you write comments in Sheets, Slides, and Drawings 
Autocorrect helps you compose documents quickly and with confidence. Misspelled words will automatically be corrected while typing and denoted with a grey dashed underline. This feature is already available in Docs.


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 Chat will automatically suggest group chats based on your Google Calendar 
We previously announced that Google Chat will automatically suggest 1:1 chats based on your meetings in Google Calendar. Now, you’ll also get suggestions for group chats when you’re meeting with multiple people. | Learn more. 



Expanding Google Meet visual refresh to Meet hardware portfolio 
We’re expanding the rollout of the refreshed Google Meet web experience to Meet hardware devices. Users joining Meet calls with a Chromebase for meetings all-in-one touchscreen device will notice improvements for video feeds, the viewing and presenting experience, and the bottom bar. | Learn more. 



Admins can view more information about apps in the Google Workspace Marketplace before deploying to their users 
In the Google Workspace Marketplace, you’ll now see more information about apps available in the Marketplace. Specifically, you’ll see the following information regarding the app developer, their privacy policy, terms of service, app permissions, and more. | Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers only. | Learn more. 



Enhancing live streams in Google Meet with captions and cross-domain live streams 
We’re improving live streams for Google Meet with two new features: cross-domain livestreams and captions in live streams.| Available to Google Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more.



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

Admins can view more information about apps in the Google Workspace Marketplace before deploying to their users

What’s changing

In the Google Workspace Marketplace, you’ll now see more information about apps available in the Marketplace. Specifically, you’ll see the following information:

  • Overview: Information about the app developer, including quick links to their site, privacy policy, and terms of service.
  • Permissions: App permissions to review to assess whether the app data access complies with your organization’s policies.
  • Reviews: Reviews and replies provided by other users who have installed the app.



Who’s impacted

Admins and end users


Why it’s important

Before installing Google Workspace Marketplace app to users in their domain, admins can review important information about the application, such as developer information, permissions the applications require, and more. This additional information will help you make a more informed decision when deploying apps to your users.


Getting started


Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials and Frontline customers

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – June 11, 2021

New updates 

Google Voice is now available in Belgium 
Google Workspace customers based in Belgium can now sign up for Google Voice, and customers who have purchased Google Voice Premier can get phone numbers for their users in Belgium. With this launch, Voice is now available in these countries. | Learn more. 



Easily view the number of Google Meet hardware devices in your organization in the Admin console 
In the Admin console under Devices > Google Meet Hardware, admins will now see a simple count on the device list page of the number of devices that meet the criteria of the currently selected filters. | 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. 



Replace your background with a video in Google Meet 
In addition to replacing your Google Meet background with a static image, you can now replace your background with a video. | Learn more. 



Option to replace your background in Google Meet is now available on Android 
You can now blur or replace your background with an image in Google Meet on Android. This feature is already available on the web. | Learn more.



Find admin approved applications in the “Approved for you” section in the Google Workspace Marketplace 



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

Find admin approved applications in the “Approved for you” section in the Google Workspace Marketplace

What’s changing 

The new “Approved for You” section in the Google Workspace Marketplace allows users to quickly see and install applications that have been approved and allowlisted by their admins. 


Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 


Why it’s important 

Admins can specify which third-party apps their users can install from the Google Workspace Marketplace. With the addition of the “Approved for you” section in the Marketplace, users can quickly find and install pre-approved apps for Gmail, Drive, Editors, Calendar, and more. 


Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials and Frontline customers 

Resources