This official feed from the Google Workspace team provides essential information about new features and improvements for Google Workspace customers.
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What’s changing 

Last year, we introduced the availability of grading periods endpoints as part of the Google Classroom API through the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program. Today, we’re excited to announce the general availability of this feature, which will enable developers to: 
  • Create, modify, and delete grading periods in courses 
  • Read grading periods in courses 
  • Reference and set grading periods on CourseWork resources 
  • Apply grading period settings to existing CourseWork items 

Who’s impacted 

Developers 


Why you’d use it 

The new grading periods endpoints allow developers to create, modify, and read grading periods in Classroom on behalf of administrators and teachers. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: The Classroom API provides a RESTful interface for you to manage courses and rosters in Google Classroom. Learn more about the Classroom API overview. 
  • Developers: 
    • Application developers can use the Classroom API to integrate their apps with Classroom. These apps need to use OAuth 2.0 to request permission to view classes and rosters from teachers. Admins can restrict whether teachers and students in their domain can authorize apps to access their Google Classroom data. 
    • All API and Classroom share button integrations should follow the Classroom brand guidelines. 

Rollout pace 

  • This feature is available now. 

Availability 

  • A Google Workspace for Education Plus license is required to access this feature for both education leaders and educators. Learn more about licensing requirements. 

Resources 

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What’s changing

In addition to the recent Read Along in Google Classroom feature that provides educators with more visibility into student performance, we’re excited to give them the ability to upload their own content into Read Along as part of the assignment creation process. 

Whether there’s a desire to include location-specific content that's rich in local history and culture or provide materials aligned with geo-specific curriculum, this highly-requested feature expands Read Along’s current library by empowering educators to add content that addresses learners' needs. 

uploading content to read along

Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

Available for Google Workspace: 
  • Education Plus and the Teaching and Learning add-on 

Resources 

Read More

What’s changing 

Help me write is an AI-powered writing feature in Gmail that helps draft new email content or refine existing text. Upon selecting the Help me write button in Gmail, you can choose between the following options: 
  • Write your draft: Use your own words to describe the message you’d like to draft. Help me write also understands the context from previous messages in an email thread to craft reply drafts that are relevant to the conversation. 
  • Formalize your draft: Change the tone of your draft to be more formal. 
  • Elaborate on your draft: Add further detail to your email message to build on the draft. Shorten your draft: Decrease the length of your email draft. 

Building upon our recent language availability announcement for Italian, French and German, we’re excited to introduce Help me write across web and mobile devices in two additional languages: 
  • Japanese 
  • Korean 

Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

Whether you’re setting up a meeting with a prospective client or reworking an intro email for a new team member, Help me write in Gmail saves you the time drafting emails and provides the right tone and style for any message occasion. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Web, Android & iOS:

Availability 

Available for Google Workspace: 
  • Business Starter, Standard and Plus 
  • Enterprise Starter, Standard and Plus 
  • Google One AI Premium 
  • Customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on 

Anyone who previously purchased these add-ons will also receive this feature: 
  • Gemini Business* 
  • Gemini Enterprise* 
*As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details.

Resources 

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What’s changing

In 2023, we introduced Help me write, an AI-powered writing feature that helps get you started by writing something new in Google Docs or quickly refining existing text. Last May, we rolled out the ability to use Help me write in Spanish and Portuguese and today, we’re excited to announce that Help me write is now available in four additional languages: 
  • Japanese 
  • Italian 
  • French 
  • German 
Using Help me write in Docs, you can: 
  • Simply type a few words describing a topic you’d like to write about and a draft will be instantly generated for you. You then have a few options to adjust the results’ length, tone, or format. 
  • Select specific text and refine it to catch typos, polish word choice, and ensure a smooth, natural flow. Plus you can adjust the text’s length, tone, or even use your own prompt to modify it. 

Who’s impacted 

End users 

Why you’d use it 

Whether you’re a recruiter drafting a customized job description or an account executive drafting a sales pitch, Help me write saves you the time and effort of writing the first version of a document by enabling you to focus on bringing your ideas to life instead of conquering a blank page. Now, you can use Help me write in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Italian, French, and German. 

Getting started


 Rollout pace 

Availability 

Available for Google Workspace: 
  • Business Standard and Plus 
  • Enterprise Standard and Plus 
  • Google One AI Premium 
  • Customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on 
  • Customers with the Gemini Business or Gemini Enterprise add-on* 
*As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details.

Resources 

Read More

4 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if 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.

Improving the email signature experience for the Gmail app on Android devices 
Starting this week, if no mobile signature is set in the Gmail app on your Android device, your web signature will be inserted when drafting an email. This signature will include support for images, logos, and text formatting just as it appears when sending from web Gmail. If you prefer not to use the web signature on your Android device, you can set a non-empty mobile signature (such as your name). | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now on Android devices; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for April 21, 2025 on Android devices. | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete on iOS devices. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about creating a Gmail signature.
mobile signature in Gmail on Android devices
Set default colors and fonts for new scenes and objects in Google Vids 
We’re excited to announce that users can now set default colors and fonts for newly inserted scenes and objects like shapes and textboxes in Google Vids. To do so, in the toolbar, click Customize Styles > click New objects and scenes at the bottom right of the “Styles” panel. From there you can set colors and fonts for individual object types. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus, Essentials, Enterprise Essentials and Enterprise Essentials Plus and Education Plus. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about Google Vids.
Set default colors and fonts for new scenes and objects in Google Vids


Group by view aggregation now available for tables in Google Sheets 
Last year we announced that when using tables in Google Sheets, you’ll have access to our new type of view, group by, where you can aggregate your data into groups based on a selected column. This week, we’re excited to introduce the ability to apply column-level aggregations when in a group by view. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for April 21, 2025. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about using tables in Google Sheets. 
Group by view aggregation now available for tables in Google Sheets

Google Workspace apps are now available for the Gemini mobile app 
Workspace apps (formerly known as Workspace Extensions) for the Gemini app are now available on Android and iOS devices in open beta. When enabled, Gemini can connect across your apps, like Gmail, Docs, Calendar, and Drive, to provide more context to your prompts without the need to switch between multiple apps. We expect general availability to begin rolling out by the end of April 2025. | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to all Google Workspace users with access to the Gemini app as a core service. | Admins can visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Google Workspace apps on or off in Gemini. | End users can Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Google Workspace apps in Gemini.


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.


New sidebar with design elements in Google Slides makes building presentations easier 
To help you find the features you need when creating, building and presenting Google Slides faster, users will now be able to access templates, image generation, new design components and more in a new sidebar on the right side of your canvas. | Learn more about the new sidebar in Slides. 

Introducing Audio Overviews, now available in the Gemini app 
Leveraging the same technology that powers NotebookLM’s Audio Overviews, Gemini app users can now generate podcast-style conversations based on documents, slides, and Deep Research reports. | Learn more about Audio Overviews in the Gemini app. 

Help me create in Google Docs now available in seven additional languages 
Help me create in Docs is now available in seven additional languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, French, and German. | Learn more about language availability for Help me create.

Support for continuous framing on select Logitech Google Meet on ChromeOS 
If you’re joining a meeting from a Logitech Rally Bar, Rally Bar Mini, and Rally Bar Huddle device, you can now take advantage of the devices built-in continuous framing. | Learn more about framing on select Logitech Google Meet on ChromeOS. 

Pre-configure the Google Workspace apps admin setting for the Gemini app ahead of general availability 
Workspace apps (formerly known as Workspace Extensions) for the Gemini app will soon transition from open beta to general availability. As part of this transition, we will turn the Workspace apps admin setting ON by default. We expect general availability to begin rolling out by the end of April 2025. | Learn more about the admin setting. 

Introducing updates to sources for NotebookLM and NotebookLM Plus 
We’re introducing additional updates that improve upon the NotebookLM user experience as it relates to sources. | Learn more about new NotebookLM updates. 

NotebookLM and the Gemini app are now Core Services with enterprise-grade data protection for all education customers 
The Gemini app is now a Core Service for all education customers, NotebookLM is now a Core Service for all education customers and NotebookLM Plus, the premium version of NotebookLM, is now a Core Service for customers with Gemini Education and Gemini Education Premium add-ons. | Learn more about NotebookLM and the Gemini App.

More options for exporting your Google Workspace data are available in open beta
Beginning today, Admins can choose from several options when exporting their organization’s data (also known as ‘takeout’). | Learn more about exporting your Google Workspace data are available in open beta.


Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog posts for additional details.


Rapid Release Domains: 
Scheduled Release Domains: 
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains: 

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