Google Workspace Updates: June 2019

Changes to the user management interface in the Admin console

Friday, June 28, 2019

What’s changing

We’re making some changes to the interface you use to manage users in the Admin console. Specifically you may notice the following updates when you go to Admin console > Users:

New text buttons for user management. The buttons that appear when you hover over a user in the user list have been changed from icons to text.
New text links to add users. You can now use text buttons at the top of the table. These replace the ‘+’ button that was previously used to add users.
Dynamic table title bar. There are now different options displayed in the table depending on whether you have any rows selected (see image below).

See below for more details and images of the new interface.

Who’s impacted

Admins only

Why you’d use it

These changes will make it easier to find common user management features and therefore manage users more quickly through the Admin console.

How to get started

Admins: See the new interface at Admin console > Users. Use our Help Center to learn more about user management.
End users: No action needed

Additional details

New text buttons for user management

Instead of icon buttons, you’ll now have text buttons to complete common user management functions, such as resetting passwords, renaming users, adding to groups, and more.

New text links to add users

To add users individually or in bulk, use the text links at the top of the user table. Note that these options change when rows are selected (see ‘dynamic table title bar,’ below).

A new way to add users

Dynamic table title bar

Options in the table’s title bar will change when you have user rows selected.

Helpful links

Help Center: Add and manage users

Availability

Rollout details

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

G Suite editions
Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?
This feature will be ON by default.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Greater protection and control with three Gmail security tools

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

What’s changing

We’re making three Gmail security features generally available (GA). The features were previously in beta. Check out the linked announcements for more information on each:

Security sandbox, which detects the presence of previously unknown malware in attachments by virtually "executing" them in a private, secure sandbox environment. Learn more.
Advanced phishing and malware protection, which provides new controls to place emails into a quarantine, protect against anomalous attachment types, and protect your Google Groups from inbound spoofing emails. Learn more.
Gmail confidential mode, which provides built-in information rights management controls in your emails by allowing senders to create expiration dates and revoke previously sent messages. Learn more.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why you’d use it

When you deploy and manage security tools at scale, you can more effectively protect your users from threats. With these features now in GA, everyone in your organization—from admins to end users—is more secure.

How to get started

Admins:

End users:

Security sandbox: No action needed.
Advanced phishing and malware protection: No action needed.
Gmail confidential mode: Follow the steps in this Help Center article to send and open confidential emails.

Helpful links

Cloud blog: New G Suite security protections to guard against security attacks
G Suite Updates blog: Increase email security with the security sandbox for Gmail beta
G Suite Updates blog: Advanced phishing and malware protection for Gmail beta
G Suite Updates blog: Gmail confidential mode launching on by default on June 25, 2019

Availability

Rollout details

Security Sandbox

Rapid Release domains: Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) staring on June 25, 2019.
Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) staring on June 25, 2019.

Advanced phishing and malware protection

Gmail confidential mode

Rapid Release domains: Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) staring on June 25, 2019.
Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on June 25, 2019.

G Suite editions

Security Sandbox

Available to G Suite Enterprise and G Suite Enterprise for Education.
Not available to G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G Suite for Education, and G Suite for Nonprofits.

Advanced phishing and malware protection

Controls are available to all G Suite editions.
Chart to view affected emails available is part of the security center and so is available to G Suite Enterprise and G Suite Enterprise for Education editions only.

Gmail confidential mode:

Available to all G Suite editions.

On/off by default?

Security sandbox: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the OU level.
Advanced phishing and malware protection: This feature will be ON by default.
Gmail confidential mode: This feature will be ON by default.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Use security codes to log in where security keys won’t work directly

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

What’s changing

We’re adding an option for G Suite users to log in using security codes. A security code is a one-time use code, generated using a security key, that can be used to log in on legacy platforms where security keys aren’t supported directly.

Security codes will be available by default for some users:

Users subject to “Any” or “Any except verification codes via text, phone call” 2-Step Verification policies
Users which are not subject to a specific 2-Step Verification policy, but that have chosen to use a security key.

If you currently use an “only security key” policy and wish to allow security codes, an admin can choose turn security codes on for specific users (see more below).

Find out more about how to select a 2-Step Verification method to enforce here.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why you’d use it

Security keys increase account security significantly. While most modern systems support the use of security keys, some do not. For example, security keys often don’t work with Internet Explorer and Safari, iOS apps, remote desktops, and legacy applications that don’t support FIDO protocols. With this launch, users can now generate a security code with their security key, which can then be used to authenticate their login attempt where the security key itself won’t work.

For example, a user may need to access a web application that federates their Google identity, but only works on Internet Explorer 11. While the browser can’t communicate with a security key directly, the user can open a Chrome browser and generate a security code, which can then be entered in Internet Explorer to gain access to the application.

Security considerations
Before enabling this new policy, carefully evaluate if your organization needs security codes. Using security keys without security codes helps to provide maximum protection against phishing. However if your organization has important workflows where security keys can’t be used directly, enabling security codes for those situations may help improve your security posture overall.

How to get started

Admins:

Domains that currently enforce an “only security key” policy can turn on security codes by going to Admin Console > Security > Advanced security settings and selecting “Users may utilize security code”. Use our Help Center to find out more about security codes. Domains that currently enforce other 2-step verification policies will have the feature turned on by default.

End users:

For users in domains which enforce “Any” or “Any except verification codes via text, phone call” 2-Step Verification policies the feature will be enabled by default.
For users in domains which enforce an “only security key” policy, no action is needed until an admin turns the feature on.
Once enabled, when a user who can use security codes navigates to a page which requires a security key, they will see “Having trouble” or “Try another way.” Once they click on one of those options, they will be able to “Get a one-time security code”. This will link to a page that prompts them to enter their security code, and also tells them where to go (https://g.co/sc) to generate a security code if they don’t have one yet.

Helpful links

Help Center: Deploy two-step verification and allow security codes
Help Center: Security controls and two-step verification

Availability

Rollout details

Rapid Release domains:

For domains which currently enforce an “Any” or “Any except verification codes via text, phone call” policy, the feature will be enabled for users in a gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 24, 2019
For domains which enforce an “only security key” policy, the admin console setting to allow users to utilize security codes will appear in the admin console in a gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 8, 2019.

Scheduled Release domains:

For domains which currently enforce an “Any” or “Any except verification codes via text, phone call” policy, the feature will be enabled for users in a gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 24, 2019
For domains which enforce an “only security key” policy, the admin console setting to allow users to utilize security codes will appear in the admin console in a gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 8, 2019.

G Suite editions
Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?

Security codes will be ON by default for domains which currently enforce “Any” or “Any except verification codes via text, phone call” 2-Step Verification policies.
Security codes will be OFF by default for domains which currently enforce an “only security key” policy, security codes will be off by default and admins enable them at the domain, OU, or group level.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Get G Suite product update alerts by email
See the G Suite launch release calendar
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Mark PDFs, images, and Microsoft Office files as offline in Drive, launching to beta

Monday, June 24, 2019

What’s changing

You can already make Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files available offline. Now, as part of a new beta, you can mark also PDF, image, Microsoft Office, and other non-Google files for offline access using Google Drive on Chrome.

To learn more about the beta and to apply, see here.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why you’d use it

This feature helps complete the offline experience for Google Drive. Now, users can access their important non-Google files in an offline setting, like when they’re traveling or when there’s poor internet connectivity.

How to get started

Admins:

To apply to this beta, you must enable Drive File Stream use and installation for your domain, and enable offline for the domain and devices.
Apply to join the beta here.

Note: Admins who opted into the Alpha for offline for Docs, Sheets, and Slides will automatically be whitelisted for this beta.

End users:

First, enable offline from within the Drive or Docs settings.
Next, sign into Chrome with the account associated with the whitelisted Google Group and access Drive File Stream.
To mark the non-Google files as available offline, right click on a file and select “Make available offline.” You can use the offline preview feature as well.

Additional details

Note that while this feature is not currently supported in ChromeOS, we’re working on bringing these offline capabilities to ChromeOS in the future.

Additionally, users can also right click and open any non-Google files using native applications. By doing so, you can make an Office file available offline and—while offline—open that file using the native Microsoft Office application.

Helpful links

Availability

G Suite editions

Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?

Once accepted into the beta, this feature is ON by default when:

Offline is enabled for the domain.
Users have Drive File Stream installed and offline is enabled in Google Drive or Google Docs settings.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Get G Suite product update alerts by email
See the G Suite launch release calendar
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Five new third-party applications added to G Suite pre-integrated SAML apps catalog

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

What’s changing

We’re adding SAML integration for five additional applications:

Firstbird
Foodee
Hive
LaunchDarkly
RECOG

Use our Help Center to see the full list of SAML apps and find out how to configure SAML applications.

Who’s impacted

Admins only

Why you’d use it

With Single-Sign-On (SSO), users can access all of their enterprise cloud applications—including the Admin console for admins—after signing in just one time. Google supports the two most popular enterprise SSO standards, OpenID Connect and SAML, and there are already many applications with pre-integrated SSO support in our third-party apps catalog.

How to get started

Admins: You can find our full list of pre-integrated applications, as well as instructions for installing them, in the Help Center.
End users: No action needed.

Additional details

Note that apart from the pre-integrated SAML applications, G Suite also supports installing “Custom SAML Applications,” which means that admins can install any third-party application that supports SAML. The advantage of a pre-integrated app is that the installation is much easier. Use out Help Center to learn more about installing Custom SAML Applications.

Helpful links

Help Center: Using SAML to set up federated SSO
Help Center: Set up your own custom SAML applicationAvailability

Rollout details

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on April 30, 2019
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on April 30, 2019

G Suite editions
Available to all G Suite editions.

On/off by default?
This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the OU level.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

See a filterable, searchable list of the latest G Suite launches

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

We’ve just updated the “What’s new in G Suite?” Help Center article to include recent launches. The article has a list of all the G Suite launches from the past six months. You can filter by product or search by keyword to find and learn about any launch.

Feedback? Let us know.

Create rubrics in Classroom with a new beta

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

What’s changing

You can now create rubrics in Classroom as part of a new beta. Classroom instructors and admins can request to be whitelisted for this beta by filling out this form.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why you’d use it

Rubrics are commonly used with complex assignments that require multiple steps and criteria. Now, educators can create and attach a rubric to an assignment as a guideline for students and to refer back to when understanding their grades.

For business users, rubrics can be used to assess strategies in marketing plans or to evaluate performance in key areas of the business.

With this beta, users can create rubrics that meet their specific needs, making it faster and easier to deliver rich feedback to key stakeholders.

How to get started

Admins and Classroom instructors: Apply for the beta here.

Additional details

This beta is covered by Classroom’s terms of service and privacy policy. This means teachers and instructors can request to be individually whitelisted for this beta. Admins can request access for their domain or a specific group of users.

Helpful links

Apply for the Rubrics Beta

Availability

G Suite editions

Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?

This feature will be OFF by default. Once accepted into the beta, it can be enabled at the domain and group level.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Gradebook in Classroom now generally available

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

What’s changing

Last year, we announced a beta for Gradebook in Classroom. Gradebook makes grading easier, allowing teachers to keep their assignments and grades in a single place in Classroom. This feature is now generally available.

Gradebook for Google Classroom

Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use it

Better grading in Classroom
One of the top requests from educators is an improved grading workflow. Gradebook allows teachers to easily input and view grades across their classes and students. With the ability to view all assignments and grades in one place, teachers can stay organized and holistically follow the performance of an entire class over time. To learn more about our grading improvements for Classroom, see our post on the Keyword.

How to get started

Admins: No action required.
End users: To get started with Gradebook, log in to Classroom and click on the Grades tab at the top of the page.

Helpful links

The Keyword: Better Grading in Classroom

Availability

Rollout details

Rapid Release domains: Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) starting on June 24, 2019
Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) starting on June 24, 2019

G Suite editions

Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?

This feature will be ON by default, as it's automatically available to all users.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

New features for Slides Present mode

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

What’s changing

We’re adding new features in Slides Present mode to make navigating a presentation easier while you’re presenting. With these new features, you’ll be able to:

Resize speaker notes and slide thumbnails in the presenter view
Navigate to any specific slide with a keyboard shortcut
Control video playback with keyboard shortcuts
View all available Present mode keyboard shortcuts by clicking the new “tips” button in the presentation control bar.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use it

On a small screen, it's sometimes tough to see your upcoming slides and read your speaker notes. Now, you can easily resize these components and confidently present, regardless of the device you’re using.

Additionally, our new keyboard shortcuts make moving through slides while presenting easy. Whether you need to quickly pause a video to answer a question, or jump to a specific slide to revisit a talking point, you can now quickly navigate and control the presentation with your keyboard.

How to get started

Admins: No action required.
End users:
To resize speaker notes, in the toolbar select Present > Presenter View and drag the separator line between the slide preview and speaker notes accordingly.

To view a list of new keyboard shortcuts press Present > Tips:

Helpful links

Keyboard shortcuts for Google Slides

Availability

Rollout details

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 18, 2019
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 18, 2019

G Suite editions
Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?
This feature will be ON by default.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Use an Android phone for 2-step verification on iOS devices

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Quick launch summary

Earlier this year we announced the ability to use your Android phone’s built-in security key for two-factor authentication in G Suite.

Now, you can use devices with Android 7.0+ (Nougat) to verify your sign-in to Google and Google Cloud services on Apple iPads and iPhones.

To learn more about using your Android phone’s built-in security key to verify sign-in on iOS devices, see our Security Blog.

Availability

Rollout details

G Suite editions

Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?

If 2-Step Verification or Security Key Enforcement is turned on for an organization, Android phone will be available as an option for security keys by default.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Google Photos will stop syncing to Drive on July 10, 2019

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

What’s changing

Starting on July 10, 2019, Google Photos will no longer sync to Google Drive. From that date forward, if you add or delete files in Photos, they won’t be automatically added or deleted in Drive.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why it matters

We heard feedback that users were confused by the connection between Photos and Drive. We’re hoping this simplified experience is easier for users to understand and navigate.

How to get started

End users: Starting July 10, G Suite users will need to manually download items from Photos and upload them to Drive. If they delete files in Photos, they’ll need to manually delete them in Drive as well.

Additional details

Currently, G Suite users can choose to sync Photos to Drive. This means that when they upload a file to Photos, it’s automatically uploaded to the Google Photos folder in Drive. Once these changes go into effect, this folder will stop receiving updates. It won’t go away; it will just stop syncing with Photos.

Unlike consumers, G Suite users do not have the option to show photos from My Drive in Google Photos. If Google Photos is disabled in your organization, your users will not be impacted.

See our post on the Keyword for more details.

Helpful links

Help Center: Upcoming changes to Google Photos & Google Drive
Keyword: Changing how Google Drive and Google Photos work together

Availability

Rollout details

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 10, 2019
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 10, 2019

G Suite editions

Impacts all editions

On/off by default?

This change will take place for all organizations by default.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Take action by July 8, 2019, to ensure your users can continue to use third-party apps accessing Gmail data

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

What’s changing

Security and privacy are extremely important to Google. To better protect your data, we’ve made an important update to our policies governing third-party apps (web, Android, iOS, Chrome, and other apps) accessing Gmail data using G Suite APIs and OAuth2.

We previously announced that apps accessing user data for non-enterprise accounts using certain Gmail APIs had to be verified to ensure compliance with new privacy and security requirements using our OAuth API Application Verification. Starting on July 8, 2019, we’ll apply similar requirements for apps you may use within your domain.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it matters

While existing unverified apps will continue to work for users who installed them before July 8, after this date we’ll block new installs for unverified third-party apps that access Gmail data and that you don’t explicitly trust (whitelist) in the G Suite Admin console.

How to get started

Admins:

Review unverified apps in your environment: Please review the unverified apps currently in use in your organization’s G Suite environment and decide which apps you want to trust and allow users to continue to install. The primary admin contact at your organization will receive an email by June 21, 2019, with a list of those unverified apps, including the number of users and whether or not you have trusted them in API Permissions.
Trust apps that you want to allow users to continue to install: To trust an app, use our API Permissions (OAuth apps whitelisting) feature in the Security section of the Admin console. Trusting an app also means that, if users consent, the app will have access to some G Suite user data (OAuth2 scopes) that you’ve otherwise restricted using this same tool. For example, if you’ve generally blocked access to Gmail OAuth2 scopes, trusted apps will have access for accounts where users consent.

Additional details

Below is a list of frequently asked questions.

Why would an app be unverified? Apps may not have completed the verification process for numerous reasons, some of the more common ones being an unsupported Application Type or using data in a way that is incompatible with Limited Use requirements. We’ve implemented this verification process to help provide users both confidence and consistency with their privacy expectations.
If I‘m an app developer as well as a user, how do I get an app verified? Review the OAuth API Application Verification FAQ and submit a request for verification from the API Developer Console.
What will happen to unverified apps after July 8? Users who’ve installed unverified apps before July 8 will continue to have access to them, unless you restrict access to G Suite APIs in the Security section of the Admin console. New users will not be able to install unverified apps unless you trust them using the API Permissions (OAuth apps whitelisting) feature.
What happens when I trust an app? Users who haven’t already installed it before July 8 will now be able to install it, whether or not the app is verified by Google. Additionally, the app will have access to any G Suite APIs (OAuth2 scopes) that you’ve restricted using the API Permissions settings.
What if I don’t want to trust any apps? If you take no action, new users will be blocked from accessing unverified third-party apps that access Gmail data beginning July 8. Additionally, you can further restrict, limit, or block access by all apps, including previously installed apps, to Gmail by using API Permissions.
Do I need to trust Apps Script and App Maker apps in my domain to keep using them? No. These apps, including Apps Script projects created by users within the domain and apps associated with the organization in the Google Cloud Platform Console owned by the domain, are excluded from this enforcement action.

Helpful links

Help Center: Authorize unverified third-party apps
Help Center: Whitelist connected apps
OAuth API Verification FAQ

Availability

Rollout details

Rapid Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on July 8, 2019
Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on July 8, 2019

G Suite editions

Impacts all G Suite editions

On/off by default?

These restrictions will apply to all domains by default starting on July 8, 2019.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

View the edit history of a cell in Sheets

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

What’s changing

“Show edit history” is a new feature in Sheets that will help you easily see the edit history of a cell, including who made the last edit, when that edit was made, and the cell’s previous value.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use it

Tracking edits made by collaborators is important for keeping information accurate and understanding why specific changes were made and by whom. This is especially critical when there are several collaborators working in a sheet.

Previously, you would need to open up Version History and manually look through past versions of a sheet to determine who changed a cell and when. With Show edit history, you can quickly surface the edit history of a cell: who edited, when, and the previous value.

How to get started

Admins: No action required.
End users: To start using Show edit history:

Right click on any cell and select “Show edit history” from the dropdown menu.
A dialogue box will appear that will show you:

The user who last made a direct edit in the cell
A timestamp of the edit
The previous value and current value of the cell
Arrow keys in the top right corner which toggle back and forth between edits

Additional details

The following changes are considered previous edits to a cell:

Adding, editing, or removing content — like changing the value of a cell from “3” to “5”
Changing a formula — like changing “=A1+B1” to “=A1+C5”
Adding, editing, or removing a link from a cell

Note: Some changes may not show up in the edit history. Some examples are:

Added or deleted rows and columns
Changes to the cell’s format
Changes made by formulas

Helpful links

See what's changed in a file

Availability

Rollout details

G Suite editions

Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?

This feature will be ON by default.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Get G Suite product update alerts by email
See the G Suite launch release calendar
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

See changes in Google Docs over time with Compare Documents

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

What’s changing

It’s now easier to compare two Google docs. This feature will show you the differences between the docs as “Suggested Edits” in a new document.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use it

This feature makes it easy to see changes between two docs over time. For instance, educators can use this tool to compare essays and track revisions, saving them time when grading.

On the other hand, business users can use this tool during contract negotiations to see what terms have changed throughout the negotiation process and to compare the final version of the doc to the initial version.

How to get started

Admins: No action required.
End users: To compare Docs:

Open any Google Doc — this will become your ‘base’ document.
From the toolbar, select Tools > Compare Documents

In the dialogue, click on Choose document to select the second Google Doc to compare against.
In the “Attribute differences to field”, enter the name of the user who will be labelled as the author of the suggested edits in the comparison output file.

Select Compare.

A new document will be generated that shows all existing suggested edits from both docs as accepted. Users will be able to see the differences between both documents as suggested edits labeled with the name defined in the Attribute differences to field.

Additional details

Doc owners and those with edit access can use this feature to compare documents.

Helpful links

See what's changed in a file.

Availability

Rollout details

G Suite editions

Available to all G Suite Editions

On/off by default?

This feature will be ON by default

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Dynamic email in Gmail becoming generally available on July 2, 2019

Monday, June 10, 2019

What’s changing

Earlier this year, we announced dynamic email in Gmail in beta. On July 2, 2019, this feature will become generally available and will launch on by default for all domains. This means that users will be able to access the feature unless you choose to disable it via the Google Admin console.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why you’d use it

With dynamic email, you can easily take action directly from within the message itself, like RSVP to an event, fill out a questionnaire, browse a catalog or respond to a comment.

Take commenting in Google Docs, for example. Instead of receiving individual email notifications when someone mentions you in a comment, now, you’ll see an up-to-date thread in Gmail where you can easily reply or resolve the comment, right from within the message.

How to get started

Admins: Determine whether your users can use dynamic email by navigating to Apps > G Suite > Settings for Gmail > User settings in the Admin console and selecting from the following options:

Disable: This option will prevent users in your domain from receiving interactive emails.
Enable now (beta): This option will enable dynamic email (currently in beta) immediately. The feature will remain enabled when it enters general availability on July 2, 2019.
Enable when the feature is generally available: This is the default option and will enable dynamic email when this feature becomes generally available on July 2, 2019.

End users: Once dynamic email in Gmail launches, users will begin seeing dynamic emails from senders who are sending dynamic emails., if you’ve enabled it. Additionally, users can also turn dynamic mail off for their individual account by following the steps in the Help Center. Note: The “display external images” setting must also be enabled in order for dynamic emails to be displayed.

Additional details

This feature is currently only available in Gmail on the web, with mobile coming soon.

Helpful links

Availability

Rollout details

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 2, 2019
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 2, 2019

G Suite editions
Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?
This feature will be ON by default beginning on July 2, 2019.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Search and export new Sites with Vault beta

Thursday, June 6, 2019

What’s changing

You can use Vault to search and export content in new Google Sites with a new beta program. Note that the beta will only support Vault’s search and export functionality, it will not support Vault’s holds and retention functionality.

Use our Help Center to find out more, or apply to join the beta here.

Who’s impacted

Admins only

Why you’d use it

Customers that sign up for the beta will be able to find content in new Sites, preview and navigate through the site in the Vault interface, and export sites for further analysis. This can expand your organization’s archiving and eDiscovery by adding content from new Sites.

How to get started

Additional details

Details of actions available in the beta

Search for content in new Sites. You can search for Sites alongside other Drive content, or use the operator type:site to target just Sites data in Google Drive.

Find specific sites by their published URLs. Use our Help Center to learn more about searching for Sites data in Vault.

Preview and navigate through the site in the Vault interface, and export sites for further analysis.

Scope of functionality available through the beta:

Vault only supports content in new Sites. Classic Sites content is not supported.
Only the most recent version of the draft site will be available for search and export in Vault.
This could be different from the published version of the site, as unpublished changes would be included.
This beta program only provides access to search and export functionality for new Sites, and does not include retention or hold functionality.

Helpful links

Help Center: Guide for Beta testers of Vault for new Sites
Sign up for the Beta

Availability

Rollout details

G Suite editions

Available to G Suite Business, Enterprise, and Enterprise for Education editions, as well as other G Suite customers with the Vault add-on license

On/off by default?

This feature will be OFF by default. Customers can apply to join the beta here.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

New G Suite OAuth API activity reporting now available

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

What’s changing

We’ve added a new event to the OAuth Token Audit Activity Events in the Reports API and Reports section of the Admin console. This new event is called “Activity,” and it shows how second- and third-party apps are using the G Suite OAuth API tokens they’ve been granted. This event is in addition to the previously available Authorize and Revoke events.

We’ve also added a new parameter—called “Scope_data”—to both the Authorize and Revoke events, which allows you to filter logs based on which OAuth scope and product bucket was granted.

Who’s impacted

Admins only

Why you’d use it

The new Activity event allows you to see which methods are being called by second- and third-party apps on behalf of users via OAuth grants, removing some of the guesswork that previously existed around OAuth exposure. The Scope_data parameter allows you to filter Authorize and Revoke activity based on the specific scope that was granted.

How to get started

Admins: You can retrieve OAuth Token Audit activity events by calling Activities.list() with applicationName=token. You can also view these events in the Reports > Audit > Token section of the Admin console.

Additional details

The “Activity” event is triggered when a second- or third-party application calls a Google Product API using the OAuth protocol on behalf of one of your users. If your organization uses multiple second- or third-party apps, you may see a large increase in event traffic.

Helpful links

Developers Guide: OAuth Token Audit Activity Events
Help Center: OAuth Token audit log

Availability

Rollout details

Rapid Release domains: This feature is available now.
Scheduled Release domains: This feature is available now.

G Suite editions

Available to G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education, Drive Enterprise, and Cloud Identity Premium
Not available to G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G Suite for Education, and G Suite for Nonprofits

On/off by default?

This feature will be ON by default.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Making active user metrics more detailed in the Admin console

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

What’s changing

We’re making changes to how we calculate active users across G Suite applications in your organization. Specifically, you’ll see more accurate metrics on active users for the following applications:

Gmail
Calendar
Hangouts Chat
Hangouts Meet

Who’s impacted

Admins only

Why this matters

Previously, we pulled app activity data from multiple sources, which sometimes resulted in discrepancies across reporting tools, like Work Insights and the Reports section of the Admin console. To ensure these metrics are consistent, we'll now pull data from one centralized, reliable source which is based on direct user interaction logs. This will help you better analyze app usage in your domain and assess your organization's needs.

How to get started

Admins: To access Apps usage activity in the Admin console click Reports.

From there, you can see app usage overall, or click into specific apps.
On the right-hand side, you can filter app usage by: 1 day, 7 days, or 30 days.

End users: No action required.

Additional details

In addition to the Admin console, these updated metrics will also appear in the G Suite Admin SDK Reports API and BigQuery exports.

Helpful links

Developers Guide: Reports API

Availability

Rollout details

G Suite editions

Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?

This feature will be ON by default.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Get G Suite adoption and collaboration insights with Work Insights, now generally available

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Update (June 5, 2019): We previously stated that the Work Insights tool was available to G Suite Enterprise and G Suite Enterprise for Education.

This was incorrect —this tool is available only to G Suite Enterprise domains.

What’s changing

Our Work Insights adoption and collaboration insights tool is now generally available for G Suite Enterprise customers. You can use Work Insights to quickly understand the status and impact of your G Suite deployment, surfacing organizational insights around adoption, work patterns, and collaboration across G Suite apps.

Work Insights was previously available in beta. For more details about the Work Insights tool, see our beta announcement or our Help Center. Since the beta, we’ve added the ability to quickly surface usage of legacy non-G Suite applications within an organization, as well as added more powerful filtering capabilities via groups filtering. See below for more details.

Who’s impacted

Admins only. Work Insights is accessible to super admins and delegated admins. See how to grant access to Work Insights.

Why you’d use it

Work Insights can bring you executive-level insights into how G Suite is increasing collaboration and improving workplace culture at your organization. You can view the Work Insights dashboard and get insights into:

Adoption - which teams are adopting G Suite and which apps they use most frequently.
Work patterns - which apps teams are spending time in and how much time they’re spending in meetings.
Collaboration - how teams are working together through meetings, file sharing, and document interactions.
Usage of non-G Suite applications - if there are legacy licenses that no longer need to be renewed as users transition to G Suite.

Note that at the organizational level, team insights will only be shown for teams of 10 people or more. For more details about these insights and how you might use Work Insights, see our beta announcement.

How to get started

Additional details

New: Get insights into usage of non-G Suite applications
Work Insights will now quickly surface data around the usage of legacy non-G Suite applications within an organization. This includes the use of the following:

Microsoft Word documents
Microsoft Word macro files
Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
Microsoft Excel macro files
Microsoft PowerPoint presentations
Microsoft PowerPoint macro files

Seeing how these applications are used can help organizations identify opportunities where remaining legacy licenses no longer need to be renewed as users transition to G Suite.

See usage of non-G Suite apps in Work Insights

New: Filter charts by groups
In the beta, you could filter by organizational units and teams to help compare across your organization. Now you can also filter by groups. Administrators can whitelist specific groups to be included as filters for Work Insights.

Groups that are whitelisted will appear in the filtering feature of Work Insights. Users are able to focus on specific groups and unlock the power of Work Insights within subsections of their organization.

This provides an organization with the power to drill deeper into the collaboration data by applying custom groups as a filtering criteria.

Admins can whitelist specific groups to compare in Work Insights

Once groups are whitelisted, you can filter by those groups in Work Insights

Group filtering provides new levels of detail and aids in better understanding how areas of a company are leveraging the collaborative features of G Suite.

Helpful links

Availability

Rollout details

G Suite editions

Available to G Suite Enterprise
Not available to G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G Suite for Education, G Suite for Nonprofits and and G Suite Enterprise for Education

On/off by default?

This feature will be ON by default.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Get G Suite product update alerts by email
See the G Suite launch release calendar
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

What's New in G Suite - May 2019

Monday, June 3, 2019

Check out the latest "What's New in G Suite" launch recap (pdf) for a roundup of all G Suite launches from May 2019.

Archive and translated versions (coming soon for May issue)

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Smart Compose available on Gmail Android and iOS

Monday, June 3, 2019

Quick launch summary

Last year, we introduced Smart Compose in Gmail to G Suite users. This experience is now expanding to Gmail users on Android and iOS.

With Smart Compose, Gmail will intelligently autocomplete your emails, now across your different devices.

Availability

Rollout details

iOS: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)
Android: Smart Compose is immediately available to Gmail on Android users

G Suite editions

Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?

Smart Compose is on by default for all G Suite users. They can turn it off in their Gmail general settings (Smart Compose > Writing suggestions off).

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Expanding connectors for G Suite Migrate

Monday, June 3, 2019

Quick launch summary

Earlier this year, we announced G Suite Migrate. Launching in beta, this first-party product helps admins assess and plan migration projects, making the migration of enterprise data and content to G Suite seamless.

Now, G Suite admins who require migration from Box, as well as other previously supported Microsoft services like Exchange or Office 365 can utilize G Suite Migrate. We hope that adding support for migrations from Box will help ease the transition for G Suite users. G Suite admins can learn more and sign up for the G Suite Migrate beta here.

G Suite also offers interoperability functionality between Box and G Suite, learn more here.

Helpful links

Availability

G Suite editions G Suite Business, G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education, and Drive Enterprise customers are eligible to register for the G Suite Migrate beta program.
Not available to G Suite Basic, G Suite for Education, and G Suite for Nonprofits.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Bulk-export Hangouts Meet hardware fleet information

Monday, June 3, 2019

What’s changing

We’ve added the ability to export detailed information about all Hangouts Meet hardware devices in a domain to a Google Sheet or CSV file in a single action.

Who’s impacted

Admins only

Why you’d use it

Having access to up-to-date information about all Meet devices allows G Suite admins to better understand usage across their entire organization by:

Populating data for reports/dashboards
Auditing organization-wide peripherals usage
Analyzing data for external systems such as ticket/support system or financial functions such as asset tracking or inventory management

How to get started

Admins: To export your list of devices, follow the steps in the Help Center. After completion, the results will be available from the Tasks icon at the top of the page.

Depending on the selected format the information can then be viewed in Google Sheets, or downloaded as a CSV file.

End users: No action required

Additional information

There are 36 fields exported for each device, each into its own column.

Helpful links

Help Center: Manage Google meeting room hardware
Help Center: Download a list of devices

Availability

Fully rolled out to all domains

G Suite editions

Available to all G Suite Editions

On/off by default?

This feature will be OFF by default

Stay up to date with G Suite launches

Updates

Changes to the user management interface in the Admin console

Greater protection and control with three Gmail security tools

Use security codes to log in where security keys won’t work directly

Mark PDFs, images, and Microsoft Office files as offline in Drive, launching to beta

Five new third-party applications added to G Suite pre-integrated SAML apps catalog

See a filterable, searchable list of the latest G Suite launches

Create rubrics in Classroom with a new beta

Gradebook in Classroom now generally available

New features for Slides Present mode

Use an Android phone for 2-step verification on iOS devices

Google Photos will stop syncing to Drive on July 10, 2019

Take action by July 8, 2019, to ensure your users can continue to use third-party apps accessing Gmail data

View the edit history of a cell in Sheets

See changes in Google Docs over time with Compare Documents

Dynamic email in Gmail becoming generally available on July 2, 2019

Search and export new Sites with Vault beta

New G Suite OAuth API activity reporting now available

Making active user metrics more detailed in the Admin console

Get G Suite adoption and collaboration insights with Work Insights, now generally available

What's New in G Suite - May 2019

Smart Compose available on Gmail Android and iOS

Expanding connectors for G Suite Migrate

Bulk-export Hangouts Meet hardware fleet information

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