Tag Archives: Rapid Release

Assign Calendar resources to organizational units

What’s changing

Admins can now assign Calendar resources, such as rooms, projectors, or company cars, to specific organizational units. Upon doing so, the resource will be governed by the policies and settings of the assigned organizational unit (OU), including data location policies.


Getting started


Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available for Google Workspace Enterprise Plus and Assured Controls customers

Resources


Adding granular control options for who can respond to Google Forms

What’s changing

Last year, we ​​introduced a beta that gives Google Forms creators more granular control over who can respond to their forms via sharing settings. 

Previously, form creators had two sharing options: restrict responses to users within their domain (and trusted domains) or make forms public (i.e. anyone with the URL can respond). 

With this new option, now generally available, form creators can limit response access to specific users, groups, or target audiences—similar to how file owners can restrict the sharing of Google Docs, Sheets, Slides or Sites in Drive. 

Adding granular control options for who can respond to Google Forms




Who’s impacted 

Admins, end users and developers 


Why you’d use it 

This feature is useful in any scenario where you’d like to control who can respond to a form. For example, business leaders can better collect feedback from specific organizational units and prevent the form from being responded to by other teams or organization units. Similarly, teachers can use this to ensure a quiz is only accessible to select students who receive the link.


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • Form creators must publish their form to enable responders to view the form or submit a response. 
    • Form creators can see who has access to the form and share response access to specific users, groups, or target audiences. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about publishing & sharing your form with responders.

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 
    • Note: The target audiences feature mentioned above is only available for the Google Drive and Docs and Google Chat services. Supported editions for this feature on Drive, Docs & Chat include: Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus, Enterprise Essentials and Enterprise Essentials Plus. Supported editions for this feature on Drive & Docs only include: Business Standard, Nonprofits and G Suite Business. 

Resources 

Now generally available: configure third-party apps by select API scopes

What’s changing 

Earlier this year, we launched the ability to configure third-party apps by select API scopes to open beta. Beginning today, this feature is now generally available. 


This update gives admins more granular control. They can limit third-party app access to specific OAuth 2.0 scopes for Google APIs, like Drive or Gmail. This prevents apps from gaining additional access without admin consent, even if they request new API scopes in the future. This helps ensure data access is restricted to only what admins deem necessary.



Getting started


Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as Cloud Identity Free and Premium customers


Resources


Now generally available: Policy visualization across Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Vids and Drive

What’s changing 

Earlier this year, we introduced a beta for policy visualization across Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. Today, we’re excited to announce this is now generally available, and as a result, users who are interacting with policy-protected content, such as those with data loss prevention (DLP) rules or trust rules, will now be informed about what actions are prevented by those policies. 

For example, if a user is interacting with a document affected by DLP-enforced information rights management (IRM) and a trust rule, they will see a shield icon and side panel that informs them of the restricted actions. 

Policy visualization across Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Vids and Drive



Who’s impacted

End users 


Why it matters 

With this update, users will be made aware of which actions they are taking that are disabled on a document, spreadsheet, slides or file due to data protection controls. 


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • Any user will be able to see policy visualization if relevant restrictions apply to them. Security limitations can be applied by owners of a document, shared drive policies, or admin policies. 
    • A shield icon will automatically appear when security controls are present. Users can open the side panel to view all restrictions, either using the shield icon or by going to File > Security limitations. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about Policy Visualization and the policies themselves: 

Rollout pace 

Availability

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

Resources

Introducing huddles: instant-on, audio-first meetings in Google Chat

What’s changing

In continuing our effort to make Google Chat your home for team collaboration, we’re excited to introduce a fast and flexible way to connect: huddles. 

Powered by Google Meet, huddles let you start an audio-first meeting, making real-time collaboration easier than ever. Once the huddle has started, you can resize or drag the window, add video, or share your screen for a fuller meeting experience while multitasking in Chat. 

Huddles provide a seamless collaboration experience across Chat and Meet, and can be useful in a variety of scenarios, such as two colleagues syncing quickly to discuss a project they’ve been messaging about in their Chat stream. 
starting a huddle in google chat

Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

Huddles help to reduce meeting fatigue for hybrid workers, and eliminates the need for lengthy discussions over email or in Chat. Instead of jumping out of the conversation and into a meeting, huddles integrates directly and smoothly into the Chat experience. The format of huddles also supports multi-tasking while in Chat as you can easily resize or share your screen. 


Additional details

The Meet video button that’s currently in the compose bar of Chat is moving to the Chat header, giving you multiple options such as the ability to call, start a huddle, or share a Meet link through a single entry point. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: If Meet is turned OFF for users in your domain, they will not be able to create Huddles, but they can join Huddles. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning on Meet meetings and calls for your organization. 
  • End users:
    • Huddles are available in direct messages, group messages and spaces. 
    • To start a huddle in Chat, click the Video icon in the top right corner of your chat message > select Start a huddle. 
      • Huddles start audio only as default but you can turn video on at any moment. 
    • When you’re requested to join a huddle, you will see a chat chip in your message thread that says [user] has started a huddle, click “Join” to enter the huddle. You will also see the huddles toggle in the Chat header for that conversation. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about huddles in Google Chat. 

Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 27, 2024, with expected completion by December 20, 2025 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 6, 2025 

Availability 


Available for Google Workspace: 
  • Business Starter, Standard, and Plus 
  • Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus 
  • Frontline Starter and Standard 
  • Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus 
  • Nonprofits 

Resources 

The Gemini mobile app is now available for Google Workspace users

What’s changing

Beginning today, the Gemini mobile app for Android and iOS devices is now available for Google Workspace users accessing Gemini as a core service. With the Gemini mobile app, users will be able to do research or find quick answers while on the go. They can also leverage the camera of the phone to take pictures of handwritten notes and export them into Google Docs or Gmail, or create presentation-ready visualizations of a chart that was drawn on a whiteboard; All of this comes with the enterprise data protections Google Workspace customers are accustomed to. 

As part of this roll out, we’re also extending access to the Gemini mobile app for all Education users, both as a core service with a qualifying edition and as an additional service.


Access the Gemini mobile app on Android and iOS



Additional details

  • Refer to this article in our Help Center, Gemini mobile app availability, for a list of supported languages, countries, and age requirements for the Gemini mobile app.
  • Currently, some Gemini app features available on the web aren’t available to Google Workspace users in the mobile app. This includes Workspace extensions, file upload, and Gems. Refer to this article in our Help Center for more details: Use Gemini Apps with a work or school Google Account.
  • Currently, the Gemini app on Android does not support Work Profile.
  • The Google mobile app on iOS, which includes Gemini, will not support authenticating with your Google Workspace account. iOS users hoping to authenticate with their Google Workspace account must install the Gemini mobile app.
  • There is no impact to Google Workspace users accessing the Gemini app as an additional service. These users will continue to be able to access the Gemini mobile app.

Getting started

Rollout pace


Availability

Available for Google Workspace:
  • Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus
  • Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus
  • Frontline Starter, Frontline Standard
  • Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus
  • Google Workspace for Nonprofits edition
  • Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus 

Also available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:
  • Gemini Business
  • Gemini Enterprise
  • Gemini Education
  • Gemini Education Premium

Resources


Easily find and navigate your Google Chat conversations by organizing them into custom sections

What’s changing

As we continue to enhance the user experience in Google Chat over the last year, we’re excited to announce that users can now organize Chat conversations into custom sections. A highly requested feature, custom sections are useful for scenarios in which users want similar conversations about a topic or project to be in the same location in the left-hand menu of Chat. 

To make a custom section, go to the direct messages or spaces section in Chat > hover over the three dot menu > select Create new section > name the custom section > hit enter. You can add conversations from a direct message or space to a custom section by: 
  • Dragging and dropping it in from another section 
  • Hovering over a conversation > clicking the three dot menu > selecting Move conversation > Move to [Name of the custom section] 
making a custom section in google chat

Previously the direct messages and spaces sections in the left-hand menu were independent, individually-scrollable lists. With this update, users can navigate specific sections of their conversations by scrolling across all of their sections as one unified conversation list, view top conversations across each section, and find older conversations within each section by expanding via “Show all.” 

find older conversations within each section by expanding via “Show all.”

For each section, users can also: 
  • Modify the size (height) of each section 
  • Reorder a section in the left-hand menu based on preference by moving it up or down 
  • Toggle an unread button ON (or OFF) to instantly find new messages within each section that need their attention 
  • Start a new direct message or space message from the three dot menu next to the unread toggle 
Toggling to show unreads on web

In addition, users will now be able to find their Chat apps more quickly with a new dedicated Apps section. 

dedicated Apps section

Who’s impacted 

End users 

Why you’d use it 

This complete revamp of the left navigation experience on Chat will help users find messages more easily based on their own organizational preferences. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • By default, the conversation list is organized by direct messages, spaces, and apps, with each section set to show active conversations only. 
    • While the new Chat experience is visible on mobile, users can only create and manage sections on the desktop version of chat.google.com or Chat in Gmail. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn how to use Google Chat. 

Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 21, 2024, with expected completion in early January 2025 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 6, 2025 

Availability 

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

Resources 

More ways to get started quickly with building blocks in Google Docs

What’s changing 

For the last few years, users have added building blocks, including custom blocks, to their Google Docs to quickly spin up email drafts, meeting notes, reusable templates and more. 

Today, we’re excited to introduce a new collection of building blocks designed to help you manage important business workflows in Docs, including team task management, project tracking, hiring, and more. 

  • Task trackers quickly add and track tasks at a glance with titles, assignees, due dates, and status, in a cleanly organized format. Additionally, users can add their own columns for more personalization, and new tasks with an assignee and title can be synced with Google Tasks individually or by syncing the whole table at once: 

task tracker building block
  • Use a Contact list to organize contact information for applicants, sales contacts, team members, project assignments and more. Contact lists offer a structured table format that breaks out critical contact information into glanceable columns that are clear and easier to read: 
contact list building block
  • Decision logs centralize open questions, aid in decision-making, and organize final decisions in an easily-digestible table. With decision logs, teams can quickly align around a single source of truth with clear owners: 
decision log building block

Get started with building blocks by clicking the buttons at the top of a newly created document or via Insert > Building blocks. In addition, a new Docs sidebar, accessible by going to Insert > Building blocks > View more or by clicking “More” at the top of a new document, makes it easier to browse, find, and preview building blocks in context: 

browse, find, and preview building blocks in docs sidebar
Lastly, we’re improving table building blocks by adding table title rows, a formatted, full-width row with heading styling. Table title rows allow you to clearly call out a visually appealing table name and saves you time from formatting manually. The new column types will set a data type (dates, dropdown chips, files or people) and provide friendly warnings when table content does not match, ensuring your table data is accurate and organized. 


Getting started 


Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 19, 2024, with expected completion by December 5, 2024 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 12, 2024 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts 
    • Note: the Task Tracker building block is available to Google Workspace customers and Workspace Individual Subscribers only. 

Resources 

Add multiple multimedia files to a single message in Google Chat

What’s changing

Users can currently send & share files such as images, PDFs and videos in Google Chat messages and use the Shared tab to access all conversation-related artifacts including files, links and media. However, only one image can be uploaded in a single Chat message on web at a time. 


To improve upon this functionality, provide a highly-requested feature, and match the mobile experience, we’re excited to announce that users can now upload and send up to 20 multimedia files (photos and videos) in one Chat message. Dragging and dropping multimedia files into the compose bar from your desktop is also supported. 

Adding multiple multimedia files to a single message


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: An error message will show if a user exceeds size limits or uploads unsupported file combinations. Visit the Help Center to learn more about sending & sharing files in Google Chat messages. 

Rollout pace

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 19, 2024, with expected completion by December 3, 2024
  • Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on December 12, 2024 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts
Resources 

Automatic framing is now available to everyone in Google Meet video calls, plus an improved experience when using virtual backgrounds

Quick summary 

In 2022, we introduced automatic framing for select Google Workspace editions. Beginning today, we’re pleased to announce that we’re expanding this functionality to all users, as well as introducing an improved experience while using a virtual background. This feature will be on by default. 


Depending on their camera placement, some meeting participants might be less visible than others. With automatic framing, Google Meet will automatically center your video before joining a meeting to help ensure equal visibility for all participants. The automatic framing happens only once, so there are no motion distractions that can divert attention from the content of the meeting. Additionally, Meet will now continuously keep you centered when using a virtual background, ensuring your background is fixed and not constantly reframing which can be distracting.

Meet frames you in the center of the screen to improve your visibility

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 by the user. 
  • Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning video framing on or off for your account. Note when no virtual background is used, you can manually reframe the video at any time by hovering over your video tile and clicking reframe.

Rollout pace


Availability

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

Resources