Google Workspace Updates: August 2022

Insert emojis inline with text in Google Docs

Monday, August 29, 2022

Quick summary Building upon the recently announced emoji reaction feature, you can now express yourself in a new way by searching for and inserting emojis directly inline with your text in Google Docs.
Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: To search for and add emojis directly inline with text in Docs, follow one or all of the options below:

Type “@” followed by a descriptor, such as “@smile,” to search for a specific emoji amongst other menu items

Type “@:” or “:” to see a dropdown list of emojis and the option to navigate to the entire catalog of emojis

Visit the Help Center to learn more about inserting emojis & special characters.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 29, 2022
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 12, 2022

Availability

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

Resources

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Easily customize digital signage on your Google Meet hardware through Appspace

Monday, August 29, 2022

What’s changing In December 2021, we announced the ability for admins to use their displays as digital signage when their Meet hardware devices are not in use. Today, we’re giving admins more options for customization by using their Appspace digital signage content.

Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why it’s important You can leverage the screensaver on your Google Meet hardware devices to display corporate signage or customized content across your hardware fleet.

We know many of our customers use Appspace for general digital signage needs within their organizations. This update makes it easier for you to use Appspace as a source for content to display on your Google Meet hardware devices.

Please note that screen savers are not interactive—tapping your touch controller or using the remote will cause the screen saver to be dismissed, and the device will return to displaying the agenda on the homepage.

Additional details We highly recommend you use Appspace’s advanced registration flow to make it easier to pre-register all of your Google Meet hardware at once. Note that Appspace is a paid service and there may be additional costs associated with registering your devices on their platform.

In some cases, this feature can conflict with the power-saving feature on your Meet hardware devices. To ensure that your custom screen saver is visible, be sure to set displays as active during working hours in the organizational unit you’re targeting.

Getting started

End users: There is no action required.
Admins: Custom screen savers are opt-in and managed at the OU-level and apply to all devices in that OU.

To use Appspace content on Meet Hardware, you need to:

Register your devices on Appspace. Every hardware device now has an integration ID for use in Appspace’s pre-registration flow. You can find the integration ID on the Device detail page in the Admin console under Devices > Google Meet hardware > Devices or in the new “integrationId” column in your fleet data export file.

You’ll need to add the integration IDs from your hardware devices in the Appspace console ahead of time before configuring your custom screensavers using the Appspace PWA.

Once these steps are complete, navigate to Devices > Google Meet hardware > Settings > Device Settings > Screen saver.

Select the “Custom” option and then choose Appspace as your Digital Signage Provider. Input the appropriate Appspace PWA URL in the URL field, depending on whether you use Appspace’s Public Cloud or Private Cloud:

Public Cloud: https://cloud.appspace.com/app/?registrationmode=passive
Private Cloud: https://<customer>.cloud.appspace.com/app/pwa/?registrationmode=passive

If you do not pre-register your devices with Appspace before changing the screen saver, the screen saver will prompt you to manually pair each device using a code displayed in the room.

For more information on how to configure your content to display on Appspace, please refer to their help article.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature availability) beginning August 29, 2022

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers
Available for all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date

Resources

Dark Canvas theme now available on Google Meet hardware home screen

Monday, August 29, 2022

What’s changing We’re adding support for a dark home page theme for Google Meet hardware devices. When using Dark Canvas, devices will now feature dark user interface elements on the home screen when not in an active call. Dark Canvas mode can be applied to any Google Meet hardware device in your fleet.

We’re also adding a new batch of Canvas wallpapers, which are specially designed by various artists to look great on Google Meet hardware devices.

Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why it’s important We know it’s important that your devices look their best when they’re not in use, so we’ve extended our collaboration with the Canvas Project to deliver a fresh new group of wallpapers from top artists.

Additionally, with the upcoming launch of the Series One Desk 27”, we know many users may be sitting closer to their devices than before. Dark Canvas mode is a great way to reduce the brightness of your display while keeping them looking great.

Additional detailsThe existing “Wallpaper” setting in the Admin console has now been renamed “Home screen” and the Canvas option has been split into two options: “Canvas - light” and “Canvas - dark”. Each option will have a unique selection of wallpapers specially chosen that pair well with the selected home screen theme.

Note that custom wallpapers will continue to use light mode.

Getting started

End users: There is no action required.
Admins: This is an opt-in feature and is managed at the OU level. No changes will be made to previous selections and no custom wallpapers will be affected.

The Home screen policy can be managed at Devices > Google Meet hardware > Settings > Device Settings > Home screen.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature availability) beginning August 29, 2022

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers
Available for all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date.

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - August 26, 2022

Friday, August 26, 2022

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.

To unmute yourself, press and hold the spacebar. To mute again, release the spacebar.

To quickly unmute yourself during a meeting, you can now hold down the spacebar to be unmuted, then release the spacebar to return to a muted state. We hope this makes it even easier for you to participate in your meetings by quickly unmuting to say something. This feature will also help in situations where you forget to mute again after unmuting yourself. This feature is OFF by default and can be enabled in the Google Meet settings. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains begins September 9, 2022 at a Gradual pace (up to 15 days for feature visibility). | Available to all Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts on all web browsers. | Learn more.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Updated “Hey Google” voice control behavior for Google Meet hardware devices

We’ve changed how the “Hey Google” voice control works for Google Meet hardware devices. With this update, the Google assistant will only be active when a device is not in a meeting and within 10 minutes of an upcoming meeting. | Available for all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date. | Learn more.

Upgrade to OAuth 2.0 to continue using Calendar Interop by October 1, 2022

On October 1, 2022, Microsoft will begin to remove the ability to use Basic authentication in Exchange Online for Exchange Web Services. To continue using Calendar Interop, upgrade to OAuth 2.0 authentication before October 1, 2022. | Impacting Workspace customers using Calendar Interop with Basic authentication on Microsoft Office 365. | Learn more.

Adding more flexibility to functions in Sheets

We’ve introduced named functions, a new feature that allows you to create high-performance custom functions that support built-in Sheets formula constructs. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more.

More ways to collaborate using visitor sharing in Google Drive

You can now use visitor sharing to allow non-Google users to upload content or create files within shared drives owned by organizations and users on Google Workspace. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Education Plus, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus customers only. | Learn more.

Easily search for Chat spaces in Gmail

We’ve introduced the ability to find and join spaces through Gmail search on web. | Learn more.

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

Easily search for Chat spaces in Gmail

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

What’s changingIn the continuing effort to build community and connection in hybrid work, we’re introducing the ability to find and join spaces through Gmail search on web.

When entering queries previously in the Gmail search box, you could see applicable emails or Chat and space conversations by selecting the “Mail” or “Messages” buttons.

Starting today, Spaces in your domain with names or descriptions that match your query will appear when you click the newly added Spaces option. The directory will not only include spaces you’ve joined, but also discoverable spaces and restricted spaces you’ve been invited to, but have yet to join. Users also have an opportunity to preview the space contents before deciding to join by clicking on the “Preview” button next to each unjoined space.

Who’s impacted End users

Why it’s important As the number of spaces within your organization continues to grow, we’re offering a better way for you to discover and find the exact space you're looking for, while also providing a path to join spaces for specific teams, projects, shared interests, and more.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 24, 2022

Availability

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

Resources

More ways to collaborate using visitor sharing in Google Drive

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Quick summary Currently, you can use visitor sharing—secure, pincode-based collaboration—to share items with non-Google accounts. This allows non-Google users to view, comment on, or edit content in Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Sites. Beginning today, you can use visitor sharing to allow non-Google users to upload content or create files within shared drives owned by organizations and users on Google Workspace.

Getting started

Admins: This update will be available by default when visitor sharing is turned on for your organization. Visit this Help Center article to learn more about turning visitor sharing on or off for your organization.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. If enabled by your admin, visit this Help Center article to learn more about visitor sharing.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 24, 2022

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Education Plus, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus customers
Not available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Admin Help: Share documents with visitors
Google Help: Share documents with visitors

Adding more flexibility to functions in Sheets

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

What’s changingWe’re introducing named functions, a new feature that allows you to create high-performance custom functions that support built-in Sheets formula constructs. To maintain reusability across files, you can also import named functions from existing Sheets files, allowing you to use functions created in one Sheets file in a different Sheets file.

Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why it matters Named functions provide greater formula flexibility, readability, and reusability within and across Sheets. Formulas that were previously complex and difficult to understand can now be simplified into more comprehensible and reusable named functions.

This feature also builds upon our recent formula enhancements: intelligent corrections for formulas and suggestions for formulas and functions in Sheets.

Additional details We’re also launching a bundle of new and powerful functions in Sheets:

LAMBDA: Creates and returns a custom function, given a set of names and a formula_expression which uses them. The formula_expression can be calculated by calling the returned function with as many values as the names declared.
Lambda Helper Functions - MAP, REDUCE, BYROW, BYCOL, SCAN, MAKEARRAY: Advanced array-operating functions which accept a reusable lambda as an argument along with an input array(s).
XLOOKUP: Returns the values in the result range based on the position where a match was found in the lookup range. If no match is found, it returns the closest match.
XMATCH: Returns the relative position of an item in an array or range that matches a specified value. XMATCH supports enhanced match and search functionality and allows wildcard matches with a question mark (?) or asterisk (*).

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users:

In Sheets, navigate to Data > Named functions > Add new function > enter details > Next > Create. You can then enter your custom formula into a Sheets’ cell.
Named functions created in a Sheets file are available only in that file. To use named functions in another Sheet, select that file via Data > Named functions > import function > pick the named functions you want to add.
Visit the Help Center to learn more about Named functions.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility), with expected completion by September 26, 2022

Availability

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

Resources

Upgrade to OAuth 2.0 to continue using Calendar Interop by October 1, 2022

Monday, August 22, 2022

What’s changingIn 2020, we announced the support of OAuth2.0 to ensure Calendar Interop continues to be available after Microsoft’s disablement of basic authentication in Exchange Online. On October 1, 2022, Microsoft will begin to remove the ability to use Basic authentication in Exchange Online for Exchange Web Services. This will impact Workspace customers using Calendar Interop with Basic authentication on Microsoft Office 365 to allow Microsoft Exchange and Google Calendar to work together.
To continue using Calendar Interop, upgrade to OAuth 2.0 authentication before October 1, 2022.

Who’s impacted This only impacts Microsoft Exchange Online implementations (Microsoft 365). If you currently use an on-premise Exchange implementation, then no action is needed.

Why you’d use it

Calendar Interop enables Microsoft Exchange and Google Calendar users to view availability statuses and calendar resources (such as meeting rooms) across both systems.

Additional details
Read more about Microsoft’s deprecation of Basic authentication in Exchange Online.

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting up Calendar Interop and the steps (#4) required to switch to OAuth 2.0.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature.

Availability

Impacting Workspace customers using Calendar Interop with Basic authentication on Microsoft Office 365

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: About Calendar Interop
Google Workspace Admin Help: Allow Calendar users to see Exchange availability data
Deprecation of Basic authentication in Exchange Online

Updated “Hey Google” voice control behavior for Google Meet hardware devices

Monday, August 22, 2022

What’s changing We’re changing how the “Hey Google” voice control works for Google Meet hardware devices. With this update, the Google assistant will only be active when a device is not in a meeting and within 10 minutes of an upcoming meeting. Not having “Hey Google” active during meetings will help reduce accidental activation.

We’re also expanding the devices that will be able to support the “Hey Google” voice control to include Logitech Rally Bar, Logitech Rally Bar Mini and the upcoming launch of the Series One Desk 27.

Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why it’s important We know “Hey Google” voice control provides an easy and convenient way to join an upcoming meeting, or to help improve accessibility for users. However, we’ve heard from our customers that due to the increase in teams transitioning to hybrid meetings, the “Hey Google” control can unintentionally be triggered during meetings. We hope this improvement helps reduce any accidental disruptions during your calls.

Additional details Because “Hey Google” will only be active when there is an upcoming meeting, the end user toggle has been removed to ensure the hardware device is in the expected default state for future use.

Getting started

Admins: Admins will still be able to enable or disable voice control in the admin console at a device level.
End users: There is no end user action required.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature availability) beginning August 29, 2022

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers
Available for all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date

Resources:

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - August 19, 2022

Friday, August 19, 2022

New updates
There are no new updates to share this week. Please see below for a recap of published announcements.

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.

Improved quality and performance for Google Meet effects on the web Background effects are now more accurate for Google Meet users on the web. This allows you to experience more accurate background blur, background replace, and immersive background and styles. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus customers, and Workspace Individual users on eligible devices in eligible countries (Northern America, Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia, Southeastern Asia). Visit the Help Center to learn more about availability. | Learn more.
More control over accessibility preferences in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings You’re now able to set preferences for Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings individually, rather than having the same accessibility settings apply across these products. | Learn more.
Updated user interface for managing email quarantines In the coming weeks, you will see a new user interface when using the email quarantine tool. This brings the email quarantine experience inline with other tools in the Admin console, making it more intuitive to navigate and use. | Learn more.
See how much noise is being removed during Google Meet video calls Google Meet can now remove background noises such as typing, construction sounds, or background chatter. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Workspace Individual customers only. | Learn more.
Conveniently connect site visitors with social channels in new Sites Site editors can now insert stylized social media links into pages within their site, enabling you to more conveniently connect site visitors with additional information and content on your social channels. | Learn more.
Enhancements to the “Frame people” feature on Google Meet hardware devices We’ve introduced two enhancements on Google Meet hardware devices for the “Frame people” feature:

The “Frame people” feature is now more easily discoverable and can be accessed in a meeting from the touch panel in fewer steps.
A solution to a recent bug impacting the auto framing capability for some Google Meet hardware devices. The auto framing functionality has been restored to impacted devices with improved reliability and performance.

Available to all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date. | Learn more.
New color categorization in Calendar to better understand how you’re spending your time You can now categorize your time by naming and assigning a corresponding color label to an event within Time Insights in Calendar. | Available to Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more.
Easily assign Tasks from Google Docs In Google Docs, you can now assign a checklist item to yourself or a colleague that will then show up in the assignee’s Tasks list. | Learn more.

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

Easily assign Tasks from Google Docs

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Quick summaryIn Google Docs, you can now assign a checklist item to yourself or a colleague that will then show up in the assignee’s Tasks list. When edits are made to an assigned item in Tasks, such as a change to the title, due date or completion state, those updates will show in the Doc, and vice versa.

Getting started

Admins: Google Tasks must be turned ON for people in your domain to manage their assigned items in Tasks. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Tasks on or off for users.

End users: Edit-access to the Doc is required to create or edit a task. Visit the Help Center to learn more about assigning tasks from Google Docs and managing assigned tasks in Google Tasks.

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

New color categorization in Calendar to better understand how you’re spending your time

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Quick summaryIn 2021, we launched Time Insights, a feature that gives you the ability to better understand how you’re spending your time in Google Calendar. Starting today, you can categorize your time by naming and assigning a corresponding color label to an event within Time Insights in Calendar.
We hope this customizable breakdown feature will allow you to more easily track time spent on specific activities or strategic areas, such as project work, staff meetings, or meetings with specific colleagues and stakeholders.

Getting started

Admins: This feature will be ON by default and can be disabled at the domain/OU level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Time Insights on or off for your organization.
End users:

To create a color label in the Time insights panel, navigate to Time breakdown > select By color > click on Add a Label.
To add a color label to an event, right-click on the event in your Calendar grid. Alternatively, click Edit > change the event color.
To see your Time Insights, click on Time insights in the left side panel > click on More insights.
Visit the Help Center to learn more about Time Insights in Calendar.

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus and Nonprofits customers
Not available Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Frontline, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Turn Time Insights on or off for users
Google Help: View how you spend time in meetings
Google Help: Use color labels to track calendar entries

Enhancements to the “Frame people” feature on Google Meet hardware devices

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

What’s changing We’re introducing two enhancements on Google Meet hardware devices for the “Frame people” feature:

The “Frame people” feature is now more easily discoverable and can be accessed in a meeting from the touch panel in fewer steps. Previously, this command required two steps by first selecting the camera control icon and then selecting “Frame people.” Now, it’s immediately visible on the touch panel.

Note that you can still access the Camera control pane next to the new “Frame people” button.

Camera control button

With this enhancement, we’ve also solved a recent bug impacting the auto framing capability for some Google Meet hardware devices. The auto framing functionality has been restored to impacted devices with improved reliability and performance.

Who’s impacted End users

Why it’s important Being able to see people in a meeting room clearly is essential for improving the meeting experience in today's hybrid work environment. With the increased visibility of the “Frame people'' button on the Google Meet hardware touch panel, users can more easily and quickly adjust their camera to optimize the viewing experience for all participants.

Getting started

End users: No action required, these updates will be available automatically. Note: This feature is not available when other devices, such as a webcam, are plugged into a meeting hardware kit.
Admins: There is no admin action required.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature availability) beginning August 22, 2022

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers
Available for all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date

Resources

Conveniently connect site visitors with social channels in new Sites

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Quick summary Site editors can now insert stylized social media links into pages within their site. This update enables you to more conveniently connect site visitors with additional information and content on your social channels.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: In a Site, navigate to Insert > Social Links. Supported links will automatically generate the corresponding icon or you can upload your own next to each link. You can then drag the tile to the desired location on a page and adjust the styling, size, color, and alignment. Visit the Help Center to learn more about inserting social links in a Site.

Rollout pace

Availability

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

Resources

Google Help: Add or edit text & images

See how much noise is being removed during Google Meet video calls

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Quick summary Google Meet can remove background noises such as typing, construction sounds, or background chatter. Noise cancellation helps make video calls more productive by reducing distractions that can divert attention away from the content of the meeting, so you can stay focused on the conversation.

The voice indicator now shows how much noise is being removed. If you see the ring expanding, Meet is reducing the background noise.

If you don't see the voice indicator, no audio (voice or noise) is coming from you.

A burst of noise is being filtered out while you speak, and other participants will only hear your voice. This visual cue is triggered at most once per meeting.

Noise is being filtered out on a continuous basis while you speak, and other participants will only hear your voice. The noise level is reflected by the ring size.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 16, 2022.

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Workspace Individual customers.
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers.
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts.

Resources

Google Help: Filter out noise from your video calls on Google Meet

Updated user interface for managing email quarantines

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Quick summary In the coming weeks, you will see a new user interface when using the email quarantine tool. This update will bring the email quarantine experience inline with other tools in the Admin console, making it more intuitive to navigate and use. Quarantines help minimize data loss, protect confidential information, and manage message attachments.

Some improvements you’ll notice are:

A collapsible side panel for filtering quarantines
A paginated table view displaying quarantines with custom names row by row
The option to view the original, raw content of a selected message for easier referencing.

Quarantines with custom names are displayed row by row

Original, raw content can be viewed for each quarantine

Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 16, 2022. We anticipate rollout to be complete by September 14, 2022.

Availability

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

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Set up and manage email quarantines

More control over accessibility preferences in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings

Monday, August 15, 2022

Quick summaryOver the years, we’ve launched features to support our ongoing accessibility efforts to ensure our products work well for everyone. For users of screen readers, braille devices, screen magnifiers, and more, we're improving the ability to adjust your accessibility preferences for Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings separately.
Rather than having the same accessibility settings apply across these products, you’re now able to set preferences for each product individually. We expect this change to make it easier to ensure accessibility settings are personalized to best meet each user’s needs.

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

Getting started

Rollout pace

Availability

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

Resources

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Improved quality and performance for Google Meet effects on the web

Monday, August 15, 2022

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

Meet now offers improved background and foreground separation

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

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

Rollout pace Improved background and foreground separation

This feature is available now for all users.

Cloud-based processing

This feature is available now for all users.

Availability Improved background and foreground separation

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

Cloud-based processing

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

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - August 12, 2022

Friday, August 12, 2022

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

Granular controls for app allowlisting in the Google Workspace Marketplace

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

Seamlessly delete subsets of Sites

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

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Office Building support for Working Locations

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

Improving data privacy with Client-side encryption for Google Meet

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

Stronger protection for sensitive Google Workspace account actions

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

The Google Meet and Google Duo app icons are changing, additional information for Google Workspace users

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

Better location context for events and RSVPs in Calendar

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

Improved notifications when editing Microsoft Office files in Docs, Sheets, and Slides

We’ve rolled out a series of improvements to the notifications you see when editing a Microsoft Office-formatted file with Office editing mode. | Learn more.

Unified experience for Gmail logs in BigQuery, configure your existing Gmail logs to route to Workspace logs

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

Google Meet call control for USB peripheral devices

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

Control visibility of admin alerts with admin role privileges

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

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

Control visibility of admin alerts with admin role privileges

Friday, August 12, 2022

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

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using the alert center, granting access to the alert center, and admin roles.
End users: There is no end user impact.

Rollout pace

This feature is available now for all users.

Availability

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

Resources

Google Meet call control for USB peripheral devices

Friday, August 12, 2022

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

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

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

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

Supported devices

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin impact.
End users: Enabling call control for your USB peripheral:

In the pre-call green room navigate to Audio > Call Control > Connect device. You’ll be prompted to connect your USB peripheral.
This setting can also be accessed during a call from More options (three-dot icon) > Audio > Call Control > Connect device.

How to use call control with your USB peripheral

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

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 22, 2022

Availability

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

Updates

Insert emojis inline with text in Google Docs

Easily customize digital signage on your Google Meet hardware through Appspace

Dark Canvas theme now available on Google Meet hardware home screen

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - August 26, 2022

Easily search for Chat spaces in Gmail

More ways to collaborate using visitor sharing in Google Drive

Adding more flexibility to functions in Sheets

Upgrade to OAuth 2.0 to continue using Calendar Interop by October 1, 2022

Updated “Hey Google” voice control behavior for Google Meet hardware devices

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - August 19, 2022

Easily assign Tasks from Google Docs

New color categorization in Calendar to better understand how you’re spending your time

Enhancements to the “Frame people” feature on Google Meet hardware devices

Conveniently connect site visitors with social channels in new Sites

See how much noise is being removed during Google Meet video calls

Updated user interface for managing email quarantines

More control over accessibility preferences in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings

Improved quality and performance for Google Meet effects on the web

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - August 12, 2022

Control visibility of admin alerts with admin role privileges

Google Meet call control for USB peripheral devices

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