Google Workspace Updates: November 2014

New security tools to help improve online security

Monday 24 November 2014

Posted by Eran Feigenbaum, Director of Security Google for Work

(Cross-posted on the Google for Work Blog)

As an IT manager, we realize you spend a lot of time managing devices, applications and security settings for everyone at your organization. To make your job a bit easier, today we’re announcing new security tools to help Google Apps users take more control of their security online.

A new Devices and Activity dashboard gives your users additional insight over the devices accessing their Google account. The page shows a comprehensive view of all devices that have been active on an account in the last 28 days, or are currently signed in. And in case any suspicious activity is noticed, there’s a setting to immediately take steps to secure an account and change a password.

We are also launching the security wizard for Google for Work accounts. The security wizard guides users through steps they can take to turn on or adjust security features, like providing contact info for account recovery (if the domain security policy allows it), or reviewing recent account activity and account permissions. Plus, it only takes minutes for users to update their settings. This tool prioritizes all administrator settings for security features that end users are permitted to turn on. Access the wizard at g.co/accountcheckup.

Security in the cloud is a shared responsibility and keeping your company information secure is at the core of what we do everyday. By making users more aware of their security settings and the activity on their devices, we can work together to stay a step ahead of any bad guys.

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

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Admin control of link sharing for Hangouts video calls

Thursday 20 November 2014

Last month, we launched the ability for Google Apps customers to share links to Hangouts video calls so that external guests may request to join if not explicitly invited. This helps guests avoid errors when joining with alternate Google accounts.

We’re now giving admins greater control over this feature with an option in the Admin console to start all video calls in a state where external participants may request access to join. This feature is especially useful for customers who do not rely on Google Calendar to schedule meetings or those using the Microsoft Outlook Hangouts plugin.

To adjust the setting, click on Google Apps -> Talk/Hangouts -> General Settings:

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:
Help Center

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

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Better collaboration in Hangouts video calls

Wednesday 19 November 2014

To make it easier to collaborate during Hangouts video calls, we’ve enabled the sharing of links to any Drive file directly from the chat window. Shared links will show a preview of the file right in the chat message, even when other participants don’t have their chat window open. Clicking on the link will open the file in a different browser tab so you can conveniently work on it in full view.

To share a link from Drive during a Hangouts video call, click on the Chat icon and then click the Google Drive picker icon from within the chat window.

Chat window.png

Note: this feature will replace the Google Drive Hangouts app, which will no longer be available as of December 15th, 2014.

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:
Google for Work G+ Post
Help Center

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

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Admin provisioning of individual Google+ profiles

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Previously, Google Apps administrators had no means by which to give people in their organizations a Google+ profile in order to connect with other employees and encourage collaboration and sharing in the organization. With today’s launch, admins can now perform individual profile upgrades centrally (bulk upgrades coming soon).

For people with Google+ enabled who have yet to register (i.e., create a profile), admins may individually create a basic Google+ profile on their behalf, certifying the employee is 18+ years of age (or specifying a birthday). After the admin has completed this action, the person for whom the profile was created will receive a Google+ welcome email explaining the action taken by the admin.

Notes

Today’s launch applies to Premier, Gov and higher-education EDU domains only (K-12 EDU domains are excluded).
People using Picasa or with a public chat photo are not eligible to be upgraded by an admin, and must create their own profile.

Release schedule:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Google for Work G+ post

Help Center (admin)

Help Center (user)

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

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Increased visibility and control with OAuth token audit reporting

Thursday 13 November 2014

Currently, people using Google Apps can authorize any third party mobile or web application which supports login with a Google Apps account using OAuth to read their account data (e.g. Contacts, Calendar, Drive files, etc) to integrate with Google Apps. Each authorization grants an access token, which is then logged in the Apps Admin console. Previously, Admins could review the current state of OAuth tokens granted by people within their domain using the security tab, but could not access the change logs of authorized and revoked tokens.

With this launch, we are adding a new audit report that allows admins to view ‘authorize’ and ‘revoke’ events for OAuth tokens within the Admin console Reports section and the Reports API. Admins can use this new audit report to find out what new apps have been installed by individual users and, if needed, can revoke access using the security tab. This improves admin visibility and control over access of third party apps by users in their domain.

In addition, admins can use the Reports API to set up a push notification for oAuth 'authorize' and 'revoke' events, generating an alert when a certain event happens. Optionally, admins can also revoke data grants using the Directory API.

To access the OAuth audit reports in Admin console, click on Reports -> Audit -> Token. Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Help Center

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

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Migration of older spreadsheets to the new Google Sheets

Monday 10 November 2014

As recently communicated, the auto-migration of older spreadsheets (those created prior to Dec 2013, including any subsequent copies) to the new version of Google Sheets will start today for Google Apps domains on the Rapid release track.

No action is required as a result of the migration. No data should be affected; however, in rare cases the results of some formulas and some other features may be slightly different. See "What's different in the new Sheets?" in the Help Center article for more detailed information.

You can tell what version your spreadsheet is in by checking to see if there is a green checkmark at the bottom right of your spreadsheet (the checkmark is found on new Sheets only).

Release track:

Rapid release (gradual rollout); migration for Scheduled release domains will start in approximately four weeks (preceded by the notification)

For more information:

A new, unified experience coming to Google products

Friday 7 November 2014

At Google I/O in June, we introduced material design, a single underlying design system that allows for a unified experience across platforms and device sizes. It features smooth animations and transitions between screens, a multi-layered interface with quick access to the elements that you need most often, and a colorful UI with diverse fonts and styles.

Material design principles have begun to appear in recent Google product launches, including Google Classroom, the Docs, Sheets, and Slides home screens and mobile apps, the Drive Android app, Android 5.0 Lollipop and the new Gmail and Calendar Android apps. You’ll continue to see more Google products adopting these new design principles across platforms in the coming months

To help with this transition, we’ve created a few resources for Google Apps customers. First, a special segment of The Apps Show featuring an interview with Lucas Pettinati, UX Lead for Google Apps. Lucas explains Google’s approach to applying material design to Apps products and what to expect moving forward. Second, an instructional guide [pdf] outlining the functional elements of material design and a deep dive [pdf] into how these elements surface in the new Gmail Android app. Check out these resources and share them with your organization.

New Google Drive UI to become the default experience

Friday 7 November 2014

Since the launch of the new Google Drive UI in June, the new experience has been opt-in, allowing people to try out and become accustomed to the UI and feature set. We’ve since been working on adding a few features that weren’t ready for the launch in June, like the ability to view and manage versions for non-Google file formats, and add caption files or transcript files to videos.

With these features now complete, today’s launch will make the new UI the default experience for people using Drive, while retaining the option for them to return to the old Drive UI via the Settings drop down. In the future, we’ll remove the option to return to the old Drive UI.

Release track:

Rapid release (gradual rollout), with Scheduled release coming early in 2015

For more information:

New version of the Google Drive iOS app

Thursday 6 November 2014

A new version of the Google Drive iOS app, optimized for iOS 8, is now available in the App Store. The app includes some new security and convenience features, including:

Open files from Drive, and save back to Drive, from other apps on your device (iOS 8 only)
Unlock Drive using Touch IDーwe’ve offered the ability to Passcode Lock the Drive app for a while now, so today’s update makes it even easier to keep your files safe (iOS 8 only)
Save videos from Drive to your device’s camera roll (tap File Info icon > Open In > Save Video)

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

G+ post

Get the Google Drive app in the App Store

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

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Launch desktop applications from Google Drive in Chrome

Wednesday 5 November 2014

Today we’re launching a new extension for Chrome that lets you open files from Google Drive directly into a compatible application installed on your computer. This includes apps like advanced image and video editing software, accounting and tax programs, or 3D animation and design tools. So, no matter what you keep in Drive, using the web to access and manage files doesn’t mean you’re limited to using applications that only work in your browser.

To get started, install the latest version of the Drive app for Mac or PC (version 1.18) and sync your files. Then, visit Google Drive in your Chrome browser (make sure you’re on the new Google Drive). Finally, right-click on the file and select “Open with” to see a list of compatible applications on your computer that can open it. For example, you can choose to open a PDF file with Adobe Reader, or a .psd with Photoshop, make your edits and save back changes to Drive which will sync across all your devices and other collaborators.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release (gradual rollout)

For more information:

Google for Work Blog post

What's New in Google Apps newsletter - October 2014

Tuesday 4 November 2014

Check out this month's "What's New in Google Apps" newsletter [pdf] for a roundup of all Apps launches from October 2014.

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

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

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Additional Gmail reports added to new aggregate reports dashboard

Monday 3 November 2014

Building on the recent launch of aggregate reports in Admin console, we’ve launched additional time-series reports for Gmail, with the goal of providing admins more visibility into mail flow.

New reports include:

Outbound Mail Delivery
Outbound Mail Encryption
Inbound Mail Delivery
Inbound Mail Encryption
Inbound Spam

For more detail on these new reports, check the Gmail section of the aggregate reports Help Center article.

To access the aggregate reports dashboard, sign in to the Admin console and click Reports > Aggregate Reports.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

A more modern Gmail app for Android

Monday 3 November 2014

Today, the Gmail app for Android is getting updated with a more modern style, sleeker transitions, and a few other handy improvements.

As part of the new design, there’s now a convenient reply button at the bottom of every message, making it quick and easy to continue a conversation when you’re on the go. And if you access the app on your Android tablet, you’ll notice it’s easier to switch between accounts and the different inbox categories.

The updated Gmail app also now supports all email providers, which means you can set up a separate inbox for, say, your Yahoo Mail or Outlook.com addresses using POP/IMAP.

The new app will support all Android 4.0+ devices. It’s available today on all devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop and will be rolling out on Google Play to everyone else over the next few days.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Google for Work blog post

Get the Gmail app on Google Play

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

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New Google Calendar app

Monday 3 November 2014

Today, we’re introducing a brand new Google Calendar app, built to save you time and help you make the most of every day.

Key features of the app include:

Assists: suggestions that save you time

When creating a calendar event, we often have to piece together phone numbers, addresses and attendees from lots of different sources, then add them to our calendars manually. With Assists, Calendar can suggest titles, people and places as you type, as well as adapt to your preferences over time. For example, if you often have lunch with your mentor Kelly, Calendar can quickly suggest this when you type ‘l-u-n.’

Schedule View: easy to scan and lovely to look at

Calendar’s new Schedule view includes photos and maps of the places you’re going, cityscapes of travel destinations, and illustrations of everyday events like dinner, drinks and yoga. These images will bring a little extra beauty to your day, and make it easy to see what’s going on at a glance—perfect for when you’re checking in from your phone or tablet.

The new Google Calendar will work on all Android 4.1+ devices. It’s available today on all devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop, and you’ll be able to download the update from Google Play in the coming weeks. We’re also working hard on a version for iPhone.

Note: The web version of Google Calendar will see some minor terminology changes today ('Reminders' become 'Notifications,' 'Privacy becomes Visibility,' and Privacy level ‘Default’ becomes ‘Calendar Default’).

In addition, once people get the new mobile app, they will be able to set separate Notification defaults for all-day events on web as well as mobile. In the coming weeks, people on web Calendar who haven’t used the app will also see this change. They will be informed the first time they use Calendar after this happens.

Release track:

App available now for both Rapid release and Scheduled release tracks on devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop. Update available for both release tracks on Google Play (for Android 4.1+) in the coming weeks.

Separate Notification defaults for all-day events on web for those who don’t download the app will launch to Rapid domains in two weeks, and to Scheduled release domains two weeks later.

For more information:

Google for Work blog post

Calendar website

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

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Notification of migration of Google Forms themes

Monday 3 November 2014

As recently communicated, Google Forms is in the process of upgrading older forms to the new version of Google Forms, followed by the auto-upgrading of legacy themes to allow for customization and a better mobile experience moving forward.

After the theme upgrade, some text and colors from older forms may not show up properly, in which case Forms editors may want to choose new themes for their affected forms.

Starting today, people working with affected forms will see a notification alerting them that their current theme is no longer supported and encouraging them to choose a new theme.

The legacy theme upgrades will happen on a rolling schedule starting in about 2-3 weeks (after the completion of the upgrade to the new Google Forms) and will take several months to complete.

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in early 2015**

**Update (September 14, 2015): With the recent launch of the new Google Forms, which contains a variety of new themes, we will no longer be migrating themes from forms created in the old theme framework (those created prior to February 2013). When trying the new Google Forms, users with forms created in the old framework will have the option to select a new theme. All responses will be unaffected.

For more information:

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Learn about more Google Workspace launches

On the “What’s new in Google Workspace?” Help Center page, learn about new products and features launching in Google Workspace, including smaller changes that haven’t been announced on the Google Workspace Updates blog.

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Updates

New security tools to help improve online security

Admin control of link sharing for Hangouts video calls

Better collaboration in Hangouts video calls

Admin provisioning of individual Google+ profiles

Increased visibility and control with OAuth token audit reporting

Migration of older spreadsheets to the new Google Sheets

A new, unified experience coming to Google products

New Google Drive UI to become the default experience

New version of the Google Drive iOS app

Launch desktop applications from Google Drive in Chrome

What's New in Google Apps newsletter - October 2014

Additional Gmail reports added to new aggregate reports dashboard

A more modern Gmail app for Android

New Google Calendar app

Notification of migration of Google Forms themes

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