Google Workspace Updates: August 2017

Check out the most recent G Suite launches

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

In June, we introduced a new resource for admins: What’s new in G Suite? Don’t forget to visit the page regularly for a list of the most recent launches across G Suite.

Feedback? Let us know.

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Managing Android Wear 2.0 devices with Google Mobile Management

Monday, August 28, 2017

Update (June 9, 2020): The information in this post is outdated and WearOS is no longer supported by Google endpoint management (formerly known as Google Mobile Management). Use our Help Center to get the latest information on device requirements for Google endpoint management.

When we launched Android Wear 2.0, we launched more than a platform for notifications on a watch—we launched an extension of your phone. With Android Wear 2.0, you can write emails, manage calendar appointments, chat with coworkers, make calls, and more.

As a G Suite administrator, we believe that you should be able to manage any device—not just smartphones and tablets, but watches as well. That’s why we’ve made it possible to manage Android Wear 2.0 devices with Google Mobile Management. Now you can enforce policies (like requiring a PIN or a password) and remove corporate data if a user’s Android Wear 2.0 watch is lost or stolen.

If you’re already managing devices with Google Mobile Management, there’s nothing more you need to do. If an employee adds her corporate account to a watch with Android Wear 2.0, she'll be automatically prompted to download the Google Apps Device Policy app and set up her watch accordingly.

If you’re not managing devices with Google Mobile Management, we’ve now made it easier than ever. Check out our guide on the Help Center for steps to get started.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Manage your business's mobile devices
Help Center: Set up mobile device management automatically
Help Center: Get G Suite apps on your Android Wear smartwatch

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Google’s Contacts app (v2.1) now available for more Android devices

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Google’s Contacts app is now available for any device running Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or higher, including Samsung, LG, Motorola, and others.

Android users in your organization can now download version 2.1 of the Contacts app from the Play Store. This version features:

A simple way to move contacts from a device’s storage into a Google Account, so the contacts are safely backed up and available on all devices.
Clear separation between work and personal contacts.
Suggestions for adding new contacts, cleaning up duplicates, and more.

For more information on using the Contacts app on Android devices, check out this Help Center article.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Sync all contact data to your mobile device

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Jamboard now available for purchase in Canada

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Back in May we announced that Jamboard, our cloud-based, collaborative whiteboard, was available for purchase in the United States. Starting today, we’re bringing Jamboard to Canada*, with more countries to follow.

G Suite customers in Canada can now purchase Jamboard for $6,949 (CAD), which includes two styluses, an eraser, and a wall mount. We’re also running a promotion—if you order on or before December 31, 2017, you’ll receive a discount off of the annual management and support fee, as well as a discount on the optional rolling stand. See the table below for pricing and promotion details.

Keep in mind that a G Suite license is required to use Jamboard so that you can access files from Drive, use them in your brainstorms and come back to your work later.

Canada-based G Suite customers can contact their Google Cloud sales rep or fill out an interest form to learn more about how to start jamming with colleagues today.

Additional info for G Suite admins
In addition to the Jamboard device, the Jamboard app is available on Android and iOS for all G Suite customers. When used on a tablet, the Jamboard app allows users to experience similar features as they would on the Jamboard device. On a smartphone, the app functions as a companion for the Jamboard device.

Usage of the Jamboard app is controlled by a service on/off switch in the Admin console, and is off by default.

Check out the Help Center for more information, including an FAQ section.

*Jamboard is coming to the following Canadian provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan.

Launch Details
Release track:
Jamboard devices now available for purchase in Canada.

Editions:
G Suite Basic, Business, Enterprise, and Education** customers.

**G Suite for Education customers will need to satisfy certain requirements in order to purchase Jamboard devices. See the Help Center FAQ for more information.

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center
FAQ

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Map your site to a custom URL in the new Google Sites

Monday, August 21, 2017

As a professional organization, it’s often important that you host both internal and external info at a well-known URL. Already supported in the classic Google Sites, this is now available in the new Google Sites as well. For more information on how to set up web address mapping in the Admin console, check out the Help Center.

Web address mapping settings in the Admin console

Users in domains with web address mapping set up will see a similar message when publishing sites

Important notes

For sites that are viewable within your organization only, the link is redirected to the Google Sites URL (such as http://sites.google.com/example.com/mysite).
New Sites address mappings automatically provision domain-validated SSL certificates for secure connections. You cannot use other certificates.
You may need to wait up to 24 hours to see your changes reflected. This feature is not available for trial domains.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins and end users

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Change a site URL

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Find content and communities from all across Google+ with the new Discover stream

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

To help people using Google+ find the most relevant and useful conversations happening inside their companies, today we’re introducing a new Discover tab on iOS devices and the web.

Here they’ll find personalized recommendations of posts to see, people to know, and communities to join -- helping them stay in the loop on information being shared within your company.

To make way for Discover, you may have noticed we removed the Collections tab. ‘Featured Collections’ have a new home within Discover and ‘Your / Followed Collections’ can be found by clicking on ‘Communities and Collections’ on your profile.

Based on user feedback, we’ve also simplified tab navigation. With the addition of the Profile tab on mobile, it’s easier for people to reach their profile pages, where they can then quickly access their communities and collections. With this launch, we aim to make it easy for people to focus on what they’re interested in.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center

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Get on the same page: new Google Docs features help power team collaboration

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

(Cross-posted from The Keyword, with some additional details)

Getting people on the same page for a project can be tough. It requires managing a ton of opinions and suggestions. The last thing you should have to worry about is making sure your team is literally working on the same document. That’s why we built our powerful real-time editing tools to help with this—Google Docs, Sheets and Slides—so that teams can work together at the same time, using the most up-to-date version.

Today, we're introducing new updates to better help with "version control," to customize tools for your workflows, and to help teams locate information when they need it.

Track changes, make progress

It can take dozens of edits to make a document just right—especially a legal agreement, project proposal or research paper. These new updates in Docs let you more easily track your team’s changes. Now, your team can:

1. Name versions of a Doc, Sheet or Slide on the web.
Being able to assign custom names to versions of your document is a great way to keep a historical record of your team's progress. It's also helpful for communicating when a document is actually final. You can organize and track your team’s changes in one place under “Version history” (formerly known as “Revision history”) on the web. Select File > Version history > Name current version. For even quicker recall, there’s an option to select “Only show named versions” in Docs, Sheets or Slides.

2. Preview “clean versions” of Docs on the web to see what your Doc looks like without comments or suggested edits.
Select Tools > Review suggested edits > Preview accept all OR Preview reject all.

3. Accept or reject all edit suggestions at once in your Doc so your team doesn’t have to review every single punctuation mark or formatting update.
Select Tools > Review suggested edits > Accept all OR Reject all.

4. Suggest changes in a Doc from an Android, iPhone or iPad device.
Click the three dots menu in the top right of your Doc screen to suggest edits on the go. Turn on the “Suggest changes” toggle and start typing in “suggestion mode.”

5. Compare documents and review redlines instantly with Litera Change-Pro or Workshare Add-ons in Docs.

Here’s a quick way to preview and accept all changes (or reject them) and name versions of your document.

Use new templates, add-on time-saving functionality

Teams use templates in Docs and Sheets to save time on formatting. At the same time, developers are building add-ons to customize functionality. We thought, why not bring these two together? That’s why today, we’re introducing new templates with built-in add-ons and the ability to create your own, so your templates not only look good—but they make sure the work gets done.

These templates allow you to customize and deploy tools specific to your organization’s workflows. We’ve launched five examples of this in the general template gallery, like the new Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) template from LegalZoom and DocuSign. With this template, businesses can quickly create an NDA and collect signatures using the DocuSign Add-on for Docs. Bonus: it also automatically detects the required signature fields on the template, which saves even more time when you request signatures. This is just one of a few new templates—we’ve also worked with Lucidchart to create a business process manual, PandaDoc for a consulting agreement, Supermetrics for a website paid traffic report, and EasyBib for an MLA report. Each should help you save time and maximize efficiency throughout your team’s workflows.

In addition, you can create your very own template with built-in add-on customized to your company’s workflows. For example, create a Sheets template paired with an add-on to gather internal approvals or an invoice template in Docs (paired with an add-on) that pulls information from your CRM system.

Admins, if you don’t currently allow your users to install add-ons, you can still use these new templates by deploying specific add-ons only. Or, if you’d prefer to allow your users to install only certain add-ons, you can block specific third-party OAuth scopes and whitelist only those add-ons you trust.

Note that templates paired with add-ons abide by the same Admin console settings as all other templates and are available in English only.

The new Mutual NDA template from LegalZoom and DocuSign lets you collect NDA approvals stat.

Find the information you need, when you need it

Sometimes the hardest part of creating a proposal or client presentation is tracking down the information you need to include in it. Starting today for G Suite Business and Enterprise customers, Google Cloud Search will integrate with Docs and Slides via the Explore feature. Using Machine Intelligence, Cloud Search surfaces relevant information to help you work more efficiently throughout your day.

To get started, open the Explore tab in Docs or Slides and type what you’re looking for. Cloud Search will show you important details from your information across your G Suite apps including Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Sites and more, to help you create top-notch Docs and presentations.

Now you can use Google Cloud Search through the Explore feature in Docs and Slides.

Teams are using Docs to collaborate in creative ways. Check out this post for inspiration, or visit the Docs site to get started.

Launch Details
Release track:

Versions and Cloud Search in Explore

Launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in two weeks

Suggestions

Mobile features launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release
Web features launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in two weeks

Templates

Launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in two weeks*

*Templates created by our partners will appear immediately in all template galleries, but the add-on functionality associated with them will launch only to domains on the Rapid Release track. Domains on the Scheduled Release track will see add-on functionality in two weeks.

Editions:

Versions, Suggestions, and Templates

Available to all G Suite editions

Cloud Search in Explore

Available to G Suite Business and Enterprise editions with Cloud Search enabled only

Rollout pace:

Versions, Suggestions, and Templates

Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Cloud Search in Explore

Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:

Versions and Suggestions

All end users

Templates and Cloud Search in Explore

Admins and end users

Action:

Versions and Suggestions

Change management suggested/FYI

Templates and Cloud Search in Explore

Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information

Versions

Help Center: See what’s changed in a file

Suggestions

Help Center: Suggest edits in Google Docs

Templates

Cloud Search in Explore

Help Center: See and use suggested content in a document
Help Center: See and use suggested layouts in a presentation
Help Center: Turn Cloud Search on or off for users

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Check out the most recent G Suite launches

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

In June, we introduced a new resource for admins: What’s new in G Suite? Don’t forget to visit the page regularly for a list of the most recent launches across G Suite.

Feedback? Let us know.

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Anti-phishing security checks in the Gmail app for iOS

Thursday, August 10, 2017

In May of this year, we introduced anti-phishing security checks in the Gmail Android app. We’re now bringing similar checks to the Gmail app on your iOS device. Going forward, when you click on a suspicious link in a Gmail message on your iPhone or iPad, we’ll show the warning below. We recommend that you use caution before proceeding, because the link is likely unsafe. Only proceed if you’re confident there’s no risk.

If you click on a link we know to be dangerous, we’ll show you a page like the one below and warn you against visiting the original URL.

These warnings are intended to prevent harmful phishing attacks and help you keep your account safe.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Avoid and report phishing emails

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Making it easier to join meetings from third-party clients

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Starting today, whenever someone uses a third-party CalDAV-based calendaring client to access an event on Google Calendar, we will add automatically generated text to the event’s description. This text will include instructions on how to join the event through Meet or Hangouts.

With this launch, people using the CalDAV API, such as those on Apple's calendar clients, no longer need to go to Google Calendar on the web to join their meetings.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid Release on August 10th, 2017, with Scheduled Release coming two weeks later

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users using third-party CalDAV-based Google Calendar clients

Action:

Change management suggested/FYI

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Recognized handwriting editing, GIF support, and more with the latest Jamboard release

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

More and more G Suite customers like Instrument are using Jamboard to generate and share creative ideas. The latest Jamboard release brings several new features―to both devices and the Jamboard app―to help people create and iterate on their ideas more quickly. We’re also making it easier for admins to monitor their Jamboard devices.

Edit recognized handwriting
People can now edit their recognized handwritten text with the stylus, allowing for the quick deletion, insertion, and merging of text. To delete, simply strike over the letter(s) you would like to remove from a word. To insert letter(s), write these either above or below the word and draw a small arrow to insert them. To merge, select a text object and drag it to another text object.

Text Deletion

Text Insertion

Merging Text

GIF support
Jamboard now supports adding GIF images via Google Drive, so you can create rich, dynamic images as part of your jam session.

Moving objects to adjacent jam frames
By popular demand, objects can now be moved to adjacent jam frames/pages by selecting and sliding them towards the left or right edge of the screen.

Additional reporting in the Jamboard Admin console
Jamboard admins can now see historical data for Wi-Fi network strength (RSSI), Wi-Fi network speed, and board online/offline status in the Jamboard Admin console.

For a full list of new features and improvements from this month’s release, check out the What’s New in Jamboard page in the Help Center.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite Basic, Business, Enterprise, and Education* customers

*G Suite for Education customers will need to satisfy certain requirements in order to purchase Jamboard devices. See the Help Center FAQ for more information.

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center

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Better manage large events in Google Calendar

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Organizing an event with a lot of attendees can be complicated. It’s critical that you allocate the right space for the event, understand how many people will attend, and even check if some specific people, like executives or important clients, will be there. That’s why we’re making it easier to effectively manage events of any size in Google Calendar.

Starting today, event organizers working on large events (200 or more guests) can:

Use Google Sheets to more easily see who is attending: With this launch, organizers of large events can now use Calendar on the web to export guest lists to Google Sheets, and can also view the total number of attendees.
Invite large group mailing lists reliably: Previously, invites that included large group mailing lists wouldn’t update if membership in those groups changed. Going forward, if a group mailing list has been invited to a newly-created event, Calendar will automatically invite any new group members who join after the invite was sent and automatically remove members who leave. In addition, for existing, recurring large events, organizers who would like to make the event dynamic can do so via the steps outlined in this Help Center article.

We hope these feature additions help your organization successfully host and manage events of any size.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in 2 weeks

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Invite people to your Calendar event
Help Center: Invite groups to calendar events

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Data Loss Prevention now available in Team Drives

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Protecting your company’s confidential data is critical, regardless of where it’s stored. In January of this year, we announced Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Google Drive, giving G Suite Enterprise edition customers more control over how data is shared beyond their company. Today, we’re bringing DLP to content stored in Team Drives.

DLP analyzes the files in your organization’s Team Drives for sensitive content. You can set up policy-based actions that will be triggered when any sensitive content is detected. G Suite admins will be able to control what content members of the team can share externally using easily configured rules and easily enforced policies.

Important notes about Team Drives:

Because Team Drives are owned by the domain, rather than individuals, existing DLP rules applied at the domain level will apply to Team Drives.
If a DLP rule is assigned to an organizational unit or a group, then that rule will not apply to Team Drives.
When files stored in a Team Drive are flagged by DLP rules, users outside of your organization will lose access to these files.

For detailed instructions on how to set up these rules and policies, visit the Help Center.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to G Suite Enterprise edition only

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Scan and protect Drive files using DLP rules

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Easily create, delete, and rotate the X.509 certificates used with your SAML apps

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

SAML uses X.509 certificates to ensure the authenticity and integrity of messages shared between an Identity Provider (IdP) and Service Provider (SP). These certificates are associated with your SAML applications when you first install them via the Admin console and have a five-year lifetime. When a certificate expires, a user can’t sign in to the associated application using SAML-based SSO.

To change an application’s existing certificate (e.g. because it’s about to expire or has been compromised in some way), an admin needs to “rotate” it. Traditionally, you could do this with help from Google Support. Today, we’re giving you the ability to do so on your own in the Admin console, where you can easily view certificates in use, identify those about to expire, create new ones, and assign them to applications.

Please note that only super admins will be able to view the expiration status of SAML certificates and take action on them.

To learn more about SAML certificate rotation and how to manage certificates, please visit the Help Center.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Using SAML to set up federated SSO
Help Center: Maintain SAML certificates

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What's New in G Suite - July 2017

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Check out the latest "What's New in G Suite" launch recap [pdf] for a roundup of all G Suite launches from July 2017.

Archive & Translated Versions (coming soon for July issue)

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Useful Links

Join the official community for Google Workspace administrators

In the Google Cloud Community, connect with Googlers and other Google Workspace admins like yourself. Participate in product discussions, check out the Community Articles, and 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.

______________

Updates

Check out the most recent G Suite launches

Managing Android Wear 2.0 devices with Google Mobile Management

Google’s Contacts app (v2.1) now available for more Android devices

Jamboard now available for purchase in Canada

Map your site to a custom URL in the new Google Sites

Find content and communities from all across Google+ with the new Discover stream

Get on the same page: new Google Docs features help power team collaboration

Check out the most recent G Suite launches

Anti-phishing security checks in the Gmail app for iOS

Making it easier to join meetings from third-party clients

Recognized handwriting editing, GIF support, and more with the latest Jamboard release

Better manage large events in Google Calendar

Data Loss Prevention now available in Team Drives

Easily create, delete, and rotate the X.509 certificates used with your SAML apps

What's New in G Suite - July 2017

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Localized Google Workspace Updates

Useful Links

Join the official community for Google Workspace administrators

Learn about more Google Workspace launches