This official feed from the Google Workspace team provides essential information about new features and improvements for Google Workspace customers.
rss_feed

Quick summary

Over the years, we’ve launched features to support our ongoing accessibility efforts to ensure our products work well for everyone. For users of screen readers, braille devices, screen magnifiers, and more, we're improving the ability to adjust your accessibility preferences for Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings separately. 

Rather than having the same accessibility settings apply across these products, you’re now able to set preferences for each product individually. We expect this change to make it easier to ensure accessibility settings are personalized to best meet each user’s needs. 

Accessibility settings can now be personalized for Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: In your document, spreadsheet, slide deck, or drawing, navigate to Tools > Accessibility > select your preferred settings. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Accessibility. 

Rollout pace 

 Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Available to users with personal Google Accounts 

 Resources 

Roadmap 

Read More

Quick summary 

Background effects are now more accurate for Google Meet users on the web. Thanks to improved background and foreground separation, users can experience more accurate background blur, background replace, and immersive background and styles. 


Meet now offers improved background and foreground separation




In addition, to help users with devices that are not best designed for running real-time video effects, these effects can now be processed in the cloud. Meet automatically adjusts between device-based and cloud-based effect processing to offer the best possible experience. This helps to save battery and up to 30% of CPU on your device while optimizing effect quality. 


The first effects supporting this capability are background blur and light adjustment. Support for additional effects, such as background replace, will be added in the future. 

Getting started 


Rollout pace 

Improved background and foreground separation 
  • This feature is available now for all users. 

Cloud-based processing 
  • This feature is available now for all users. 

Availability 

Improved background and foreground separation 
  • Available to all users on eligible devices. Visit the Help Center to learn about device eligibility for background and visual effects. 

Cloud-based processing 
  • Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus customers, and Workspace Individual users on eligible devices in eligible countries (Northern America, Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia, Southeastern Asia). Visit the Help Center to learn more about availability. 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers. 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 


Resources 

Read More

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. 


Delegate access to a shared inbox using a group address 
You can now give an entire Google Group access to your Gmail account through mail delegation. With this feature, delegated users can read, send, and delete messages on the account owner's behalf. We hope this will enable teams to more effectively process incoming requests and tasks via a single shared email address. | Available to Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, Nonprofits, and legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only. | Learn more. 


Granular controls for app allowlisting in the Google Workspace Marketplace 
Admins can now choose which Google Workspace Marketplace apps are available to be installed by users in a particular department (OU) or group by managing Marketplace apps on their allowlist. Previously, admins could only manage the allowlist for an entire domain. Additionally, the Marketplace apps access settings, Allow all apps, Allow selected apps, and Block all apps, can now be set for your entire organization or for an OU or group. This new functionality provides a solution when only a subset of domain users need permissions to install certain Marketplace apps. Examples include Chat apps required for your Engineering organization and IT security group or Classroom add-ons required for high-school teachers. | Available to Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, Nonprofits, and legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only. | Learn more. 


Seamlessly delete subsets of Sites 
Site editors can now delete a page with subpages and delete pages that were copied into another site during a partial site copy. | Roll out to Rapid Release began August 8, 2022; launch to Scheduled Release planned for August 29, 2022. | 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.


Office Building support for Working Locations 
We’ve added the ability to select a specific office building as your working location. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Nonprofits, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more. 


Improving data privacy with Client-side encryption for Google Meet 
We’ve added Workspace Client-side encryption to Google Meet, giving customers increased control over their data. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers hosting client-side encrypted calls only. | Learn more. 


Stronger protection for sensitive Google Workspace account actions 
There are now stronger safeguards for sensitive actions taken in your Google Workspace account. These apply to actions that, when done by hijackers, can have far reaching consequences for the account owner or the organization it belongs to. | Learn more. 


The Google Meet and Google Duo app icons are changing, additional information for Google Workspace users 
As part of the announcement that we are upgrading the Duo experience to include all Google Meet features, users will now begin to see their app name and icon update to Google Meet. | Learn more. 


Better location context for events and RSVPs in Calendar 
We’ve made it even easier to use RSVPs in Google Calendar and let others know how you’re planning to join a meeting. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, Teaching & Learning Upgrade, Nonprofits, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more. 


Improved notifications when editing Microsoft Office files in Docs, Sheets, and Slides 
We’ve rolled out a series of improvements to the notifications you see when editing a Microsoft Office-formatted file with Office editing mode. | Learn more. 


Unified experience for Gmail logs in BigQuery, configure your existing Gmail logs to route to Workspace logs 
In the coming months, we will move the location of the existing Gmail logs in BigQuery to Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Education Standard customers only. | Learn more. 


Google Meet call control for USB peripheral devices
We've introduced additional call control for Google Meet which will allow you to toggle between mute and unmute using headsets, speaker microphones, and other USB peripheral devices. | Learn more. 


Control visibility of admin alerts with admin role privileges
There is a new control that allows super admins to create a custom rule which ensures only admins with the DLP privilege can see DLP alerts. | Learn more.


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

Read More

What’s changing 

We’re introducing a new control that allows super admins to create a custom rule which ensures only admins with the DLP privilege can see DLP alerts. Previously, DLP alerts were visible to all admins — this change helps ensure the right people have access to list, update, or delete alerts. Further, this cuts down on the visibility of alerts that aren’t relevant to specific admins. 



Getting started 


Rollout pace 

  • This feature is available now for all users. 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources 

Read More

What’s changing 

We’re introducing additional call control for Google Meet which will allow you to toggle between mute and unmute using headsets, speaker microphones, and other USB peripheral devices. 



Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why it’s important 

Video conferencing has become a cornerstone of the hybrid work experience, with Google Meet boosting communication and collaboration for teams of all sizes. This also means people consider the use of peripheral devices—from headsets, speakermics, mute buttons, and more—essential to their video meeting experience. 


To help ensure a more seamless meeting experience, you can conveniently mute or unmute yourself using USB peripheral devices. Additionally, you can use LED color changes on your device to determine when you are or aren’t muted. We plan to expand this functionality to muting video, ending a meeting, and more in the future. 


Additional Details 

Supported browsers 
This feature is currently only supported in Chrome or Chromium based browsers. 


Supported devices 

  • Call control will work with most USB telephony peripherals; however, the experience may differ from device to device. You can find a listing of Meet-certified headsets or speaker microphone can be found here. 
  • Bluetooth devices are not supported at this time. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin impact. 
  • End users: Enabling call control for your USB peripheral: 
    • In the pre-call green room navigate to Audio > Call Control > Connect device. You’ll be prompted to connect your USB peripheral. 
    • This setting can also be accessed during a call from More options (three-dot icon) > Audio > Call Control > Connect device.





  • How to use call control with your USB peripheral 
    • When you’re  in a meeting, you can press the mute / unmute button on the physical peripheral to toggle your mute state during the meeting.
    • Additionally, if your peripheral has an LED status light, the light will sync with your current mute status.


Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers.


Resources

Read More

Useful Links

Join the official community for Google Workspace administrators

In the Google Cloud Community, discuss the latest features with Googlers and other Google Workspace admins like you. Learn tips and tricks that will make your work and life easier. Be the first to know what's happening with Google Workspace.

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.

Learn about our customers

Discover how a diverse range of organizations, from small businesses and nimble startups to globally recognized Fortune 500 corporations, leverage the collaborative power of Google Workspace. Explore examples of how teams of are streamlining workflows and driving productivity by utilizing Google-Workspace.