Google Workspace Updates

Enable offline support for Google Calendar on web from your computer

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Quick summary You can now enable offline support for Google Calendar on Google Chrome from your computer. When enabled, you can view your calendar and events from four weeks prior or any time in the future by week, day, or month. This is particularly useful when you’re offline or have unreliable internet access.
Getting started

Admins: This feature will be ON by default and can be disabled on domain or OU level. To disable this feature for your organization, in the Admin console go to Workspace > Calendar > Settings for Calendar > Advanced Settings > Calendar web offline and uncheck “Allow using Calendar on the web when offline”.

End users: When enabled by your admin, this feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled on a per device basis. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Calendar offline on your desktop.

Rollout pace Admin Control

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) beginning on January 20, 2021

End User Setting

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 25, 2021
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 8, 2021

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers

Resources

Google Help: Use your Google Calendar offline

Quickly navigate to active cells and ranges with the new range name box in Google Sheets

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Quick launch summary We’re adding a range name box, located to the left of the formula bar, to improve navigation in Google Sheets. Previously, active cells were only indicated by a blue outline and could be located by scrolling or using the arrow keys. Now, you can use the range name box to jump directly to coordinates and named ranges in a sheet.

Additionally, this box provides a dropdown menu to easily access, manage, and create new named ranges in the sheet.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. The new range name box can be found at the left of the formula bar. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using named ranges in Sheets.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) beginning on January 19, 2021
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) January 25, 2021

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers
Available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Help: Name a range of cells in Sheets

Resize the Chat and Rooms sections in Gmail on the web

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Quick launch summary You can now resize the Chat and Rooms sections in the left-side navigation of Gmail on the web. This makes it easier to stay on top of your most important conversations and navigate to relevant chats faster.

Hover over a section header and drag up or down to resize.
Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: There is no end-user setting for this feature. To resize a section, click on a section header and drag to adjust as needed.

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on January 19, 2021

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 15, 2021

Friday, January 15, 2021

New updatesUnless 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.
Smart Compose in Google Docs available in French and PortugueseSmart Compose helps you write high-quality content in Google Docs faster and more easily—helping you cut back on spelling and grammatical errors and repetitive writing. It's rolling out now in French and Portuguese. | Learn more.

Previous announcementsThe announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.
Deploy and manage Google Credential Provider for Windows via the Admin consoleYou can now deploy and manage Google Credential Provider for Windows (GCPW) in the Admin console. | Learn more.
Expanding the Gmail delegate limitWe’re expanding the number of allowed Gmail delegates from 25. In addition, to help with delegate management, delegation for Contacts is now available via the Contacts API. | Learn more.
New tools to troubleshoot network and performance issues in Google MeetWe’ve added tools in Google Meet that make it easier for end users to understand how their local desktop and network environments affect meeting quality. | Learn more.
New option to block devices with basic management from accessing your organization’s dataWe’re adding the ability for admins to manually block or unblock mobile apps from accessing their organization’s Google Workspace data on Android and iOS devices with basic mobile management. | Learn more.
Improved mobile device management rules experience in the Admin consoleWe’re making improvements to how you manage rules related to mobile device management (MDM) in the Admin console. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Enterprise for Education and Cloud Identity Premium customers only. | Learn more.

New option to block devices with basic management from accessing your organization’s data

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

What’s changing We’re adding the ability for admins to manually block or unblock mobile apps from accessing their organization’s Google Workspace data on Android and iOS devices with basic mobile management. These actions can be automated using device management rules (for supported editions).

Who’s impacted Admins

Why it’s important Previously, admins had a limited set of actions they could perform with basic management—they could wipe an account or delete the device from inventory. However, they couldn’t block apps on those devices from accessing organizational data in the way that they could for devices with advanced mobile management. This launch makes that possible, helping to keep your organization’s data secure.
While the blocking action is the same for devices with basic and advanced management, advanced management allows you to proactively block devices based on the Require Admin Approval setting. With basic management, you can only do this on a per-device basis.

Getting started

Admins: This feature will be available by default. To use it, navigate to a device page in the Admin console and click block device. Visit the Help Center to learn more about blocking and unblocking devices.
End users: If a user’s device is blocked by an admin, the user will be signed out of all Google Workspace mobile apps. If they try to sign in again, they will see a message indicating that they do not have access to the app, and that they should contact their administrator for help.

New option to block a device available for devices with basic management

Once a device is manually blocked, admins can unblock the device

Those trying to access Google Workspace apps on a blocked device will see a message to contact the administrator for help

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 13, 2021.

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers

Resources

Improved mobile device management rules experience in the Admin console

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Quick launch summary

A new location for MDM rules: You can now manage rules at Devices > Security rules. Previously, MDM rules were managed at Admin console > Rules.
New rule options and creation workflow: You’ll see a new flow to create MDM rules, including new conditions which can trigger rules, and new device management and notification actions to take as a result.

Use our Help Center to learn more about managing MDM rules for your organization. Note that any previously created rules will continue to function as before. However, you’ll be able to use the new flow and options if you update the rules.

Getting started

Admins: The new interface and rule creation workflow will be ON by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing MDM rules for your organization.
End users: No end user impact.

Device management rules are now in the Security rules section of the Admin console

A sample screen from the new rule creation flow
Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 13, 2021

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, Enterprise for Education, and Cloud Identity Premium customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, and Nonprofits customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Automate mobile management tasks with rules

New tools to troubleshoot network and performance issues in Google Meet

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

What’s changing We’ve added tools in Google Meet that make it easier for end users to understand how their local desktop and network environments affect meeting quality. During a call, you can now go to the three-dot menu and select “Troubleshooting and Help” to see:

CPU load and network stability over time
Time segments highlighted when the local environment likely affects the call quality
Suggested actions to help improve call performance
Real-time feedback on the effect of any action taken on network and processing load
Tips for performing common tasks, like presenting content and recording meetings

Who’s impacted
End users

Why it’s important Meet shares processing power and network connections with all other applications and browser tabs running on a computer. When the system is overusing its processing power or suffering from a bad network connection, Meet will try to adjust and maintain performance while consuming less resources. Some of those adjustments are less visible, but if resource shortages are severe or persistent, users may notice blurry video, stuttering audio, or other issues.
With this launch, we’re providing more visibility into how the system is performing. We hope this will help diagnose and alleviate any noticeable performance issues if they occur.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature, but you can use our Help Center to learn how to prepare your network for Meet video calls.
End users: This feature will be available by default, To find it, go to the three-dot menu and select “Troubleshooting and Help” during a call. Visit the Help Center to learn more about troubleshooting performance in Google Meet.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 12, 2021

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers

Resources

Learning Center: Troubleshoot issues with Google Meet
Google Workspace Admin Help: Prepare your network for Meet video calls

Useful Links

Updates

Enable offline support for Google Calendar on web from your computer

Quickly navigate to active cells and ranges with the new range name box in Google Sheets

Resize the Chat and Rooms sections in Gmail on the web

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 15, 2021

New option to block devices with basic management from accessing your organization’s data

Improved mobile device management rules experience in the Admin console

New tools to troubleshoot network and performance issues in Google Meet

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