Tag Archives: Other

A new Google Hangouts Chrome extension experience

Last month in Google Hangouts, we announced that better group chat controls were now available on Android, iOS, and the web in order to make it a simpler and more consistent experience joining group chats with your team. In following this move towards consistency, on August 31, 2016, a new version of the Google Hangouts Chrome extension will be made available to new users. As we continue to iterate and add in features that help users communicate in group chats, the new experience brings together multiple chat windows into one and makes it easier to see more chat content.
Existing users of the Chrome extension will be able to opt into the new experience on August 31, 2016, which has functional parity with the current experience. Users will have the option to remain on the current experience until October 16, 2016, at which point all users will be automatically updated to the new experience.

In order to make this a smooth transition, we’re updating the Google Hangouts Help Center articles with the latest changes, nested in the Hangouts Chrome desktop app section.

Action Suggested
  • If you have people using the existing Google Hangouts Chrome extension in your organization, share the Help Center articles above to prepare them for this change.
  • If you use Chrome Management (available to all Google Apps customers) to centrally manage installation of the extension, please see our Help Center article for more information.

As a reminder, the new Google Hangouts Chrome extension will become the default experience on October 16, 2016.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release on August 31, 2016 as the default for new users, and opt-in for existing users. The new extension will become the default for all users on October 16, 2016.

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All Hangouts Chrome extension end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Chrome Web Store
Help Center: Hangouts Chrome desktop app
Administrators only: Set Chrome policies for users

Reminder: new version of Google+ becoming the default option

On August 30, 2016 the new version of Google+ will become the default option for Google Apps users of Google+. This follows our release of the new Google+ on an opt-in basis last November. If desired, users will still be able to use the classic Google+ interface by clicking on the "Back to classic Google+" link in the bottom left-hand corner.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release on August 30, 2016. Monitor the Google Apps release calendar for release date changes.

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Google Apps Learning Center: Google+

External Directory Sharing will now include CardDAV and Contacts API v3

Starting on September 26th, 2016, we will add two additional APIs to the recently launched External Directory Sharing Admin console setting. The setting is already enforced in the Google People API, and we will now also enforce it in Google CardDAV APIand Google Contacts API v3.

The setting gives Google Apps admins more control over their domain directory data, allowing them to determine what directory information external apps and APIs can access.

Admins can manage the setting from Apps > Google Apps > Settings for Contacts > Advanced Settings in the Admin console.
By default, the external directory sharing setting is set to “Domain and public data.” When the external directory sharing setting is set to “Only public data,” the Google CardDAV API, Google Contacts API v3, and Google People API will no longer return domain data in their responses or will return forbidden 403 errors where appropriate. Any clients that use these APIs for domain data, including mobile apps, marketplace apps, and scripts, may no longer work as expected.

If admins have chosen to share “Only public data” from the Admin console, here are some common use cases that may become restricted by these new sharing controls:
  • People who use the Mail and Contacts applications on iOS will no longer be able to access directory information using the Global Address List feature if the Google Apps account was added onto the iOS device using the “Add Google Account” option.
  • Apps Scripts that utilize the Contacts API v3 or CardDAV API to access directory information. For example, an Apps Script that fetches birthdays of all users within the domain using the Contacts API v3 to send party reminder emails.
  • Third-party Marketplace apps that utilize the Contacts API v3 or CardDAV API to access directory information. 
Google Apps products that use the domain directory data for contacts, such as the Gmail, Drive, and Calendar apps on iOS, will not be affected by this change. Also not impacted by this change are the Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook® sync plug-in and any device that syncs using Google Sync, both of which will continue to be able to access directory information even if the External Directory Sharing setting is set to “Only public data.” The Google Apps Admin SDK, used by admins to manage users and domain shared contacts, is also unaffected by the External Directory Sharing setting.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release on September 26th, 2016

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins and developers using Google CardDAV API, Google Contacts API v3, and Google People API

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Saying Goodbye to the GData Admin Settings API

(Cross posted from the Google Apps Developer blog) 

Posted by Shashank Gupta, Product Manager, Google Apps for Work and Wesley Chun, Developer Advocate, Google Apps 

 Back in 2013, we launched the Google Apps Admin SDK, and later announced as a result that several outdated Apps Admin APIs would be deprecated and shut down in April 2015. Today, we are continuing this effort of removing older, less-used functionality by announcing the deprecation of the GData Admin Settings API. Some GData API functionality will find a replacement from an Admin SDK counterpart, while other features will be discontinued. The following table summarizes which features will be retained (and where to access replacement functionality) and which won’t:

Admin Settings API
Endpoint
Post-Deprecation Replacement (if any)
General Settings
/defaultLanguage
Customer API
/organizationName
Customer API
/currentNumberOfUsers
no replacement / discontinued
/maximumNumberOfUsers
no replacement / discontinued
Account Settings
/accountInformation/supportPIN
no replacement / discontinued
/accountInformation/customerPIN
no replacement / discontinued
/accountInformation/adminSecondaryEmail
Customer API
/accountInformation/edition
no replacement / discontinued
/accountInformation/creationTime
Customer API
/accountInformation/countryCode
Customer API
Appearance Settings
All endpoints
no replacement / discontinued
Verification Settings
All endpoints
no replacement / discontinued
Single Sign-on (SSO) Settings
All endpoints
replacement API coming soon
Gateway and Routing Settings
All endpoints
no replacement / discontinued

To summarize, the GData Admin Settings API is being deprecated today and will remain operational for one year to give developers time to migrate. This means that on August 16, 2017, this deprecated API will be shut down. At that time, all calls to the API and any features in your applications that depend on it will no longer work. Please migrate as soon as possible.

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Enhanced third-party access protection for Google Sheets

(Cross posted from the Google Apps Developer blog)

Posted by Tom Holman, Product Manager, Google Sheets and Josh Danziger, Software Engineer, Google Sheets

At Google, we are always working to keep our users' information safe. As part of these ongoing efforts, we will begin requiring explicit authorization when third-party sites request access to Google Sheets content via the Google Visualization API or Google Query Language.

For many developers, this change will be transparent, but others may need to make changes in order to continue reading spreadsheet data. For more details on the technical changes required, please visit the Google Charts API Documentation. We will begin enforcing these requirements on September 14, 2016.

If you have any questions or concerns about this change, please follow up in the Google Docs forum or on Stack Overflow.


Launch Details
Release track:  
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release on September 14, 2016

Rollout pace: 
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact: 
Developers using the APIs to access Google Sheets
Action:
Developer action required, if using the affected APIs

More Information

What’s New in Google Apps newsletter – July 2016


Check out the latest "What's New in Google Apps" newsletter [pdf] for a roundup of all Apps launches from July 2016.


Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Reminder: Turn down of Google Drive web hosting coming soon

(Cross-posted on Google Apps Developer Blog)

Posted by Hodie Meyers, Product Manager, Google Drive and Steve Bazyl, Developer Programs Engineer, Google Apps

Last year, we announced the deprecation of Google Drive web hosting for users and developers, and that the service will be shut down on August 31, 2016. We’d like to remind remaining users that websites hosted via googledrive.com/host/[id] will become unavailable from that date.

For those who haven’t switched yet, please consider the following alternatives.

  • Google Drive API: If you’re using the web hosting feature to provide logged-in users access to public Drive items, you can use the API instead.
  • Firebase Hosting: If you’re using the web hosting feature to provide users access to static web pages whose content lives on Drive, you can migrate to Firebase by uploading the content to Firebase and serving pages via Firebase-specific URLs.  Please see this video to learn more!


Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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What’s New in Google Apps newsletter – June 2016


Check out the latest "What's New in Google Apps" newsletter [pdf] for a roundup of all Apps launches from June 2016.

Newsletter Archive & Translated Versions (coming soon for June issue)


Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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New and improved “What’s New in Google Apps” site

We’re excited to announce that the ”What’s New in Google Apps” site has been redesigned and relaunched as part of apps.google.com. The What’s New site has a slick new look and feel and brings together many helpful resources in one location.

Be sure to update your bookmarks with the new page locations (redirects from the old pages are in place as well):

The Google Apps release calendar itself is unchanged, but, if you haven’t already, be sure to add it to your own calendar and subscribe for notifications when calendar launch release dates change.

We hope you like the new home for Google Apps launch resources!


Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Support for Google Apps Lookup on Android 2.3 and below ending on September 26, 2016

Today, we’re announcing that as of September 26, 2016, we will discontinue support for Google Apps Lookup.

Google Apps Lookup was used for viewing the Global Directory on devices using Android 2.1 (Eclair) to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). Newer versions of Android include Global Directory lookup functionality built directly into the native contacts app.

We recommend Apps admins to: 

  1. Identify users running Android 2.1 (Eclair) to 2.3 (Gingerbread) on your domain that may be affected by this announcement. If you are managing devices on your domain, you can use the “os:android” search operator to filter and sort users with devices on Android 2.2 (Froyo) to 2.3 (Gingerbread). Note: It is not possible to search for devices running Android 2.1 (Eclair), from the Admin console, as Device Policy is not available for this version of Android. 
  2. Assist users in updating to a newer version of Android via software update or find alternative contacts/Global Directory apps from Google Play. 

Users may check which version of Android they are using from their device, under Settings > About phone > Android version, or a similar location.

Users who have already installed Google Apps Lookup prior to September 26, 2016, will still be able to use the application. However, on September 26, 2016, support for this app will be discontinued and Google Apps Lookup will no longer be available from Google Play. Google Apps Lookup functionality cannot be guaranteed beyond September 26, 2016.

Launch Details 
Release track:
Support will end for both Rapid release and Scheduled release on September 26, 2016 

Rollout pace: 
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Admin action required


Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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