2 New updates
Unless 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 customers.
Adding flexibility to email collection in Google Forms
Previously, when creating or modifying a Google Form and editing the “Responses” section, form creators only had the option to toggle the "Collect email addresses" option on or off. If enabled, this meant when users filled out the form, their email was automatically collected with their form submission. To add flexibility, we’ve introduced the ability to choose between the following email collection options:
- Verified email collection (previously known as automatic email collection)
- Responder input (previously known as manual email collection)
- Do not collect
The verified collection option will now require a user to click a checkbox to confirm which email address is being collected upon submission. | Learn more about viewing & managing form responses.
Gain consensus from collaborators quickly with voting chips in Google Docs
You can now add smart chips that contain emojis to use as voting indicators in Google Docs. This feature helps teams express themselves while they’re collaborating in Docs by allowing you to rank or compare ideas. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits only. | Learn more about inserting smart chips & building blocks in your Google Doc.
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.
Launching in beta: programmatically write working locations with the Calendar API
Available now in beta through our Developer Preview Program, you can write a user’s working location using the Calendar API. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more about writing working locations with the Calendar API.
Enhancing Google Vault file retention capabilities using Google Drive Labels
Google Vault now supports custom retention rules based on Drive labels. | Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about Vault file retention using Google Drive Labels.
Respond to access requests for Google Workspace files more efficiently
Users can now review and respond to requests from within the file. Approvers will see a notification dot on the “Share” button if they have a pending access request and a new banner at the top of the sharing dialog. | Learn more about responding to access requests.
Monitor additional Google Meet hardware issues in the Admin console
You can now use the Admin console to detect and monitor additional Meet hardware issues, such as: missing display, missing controller, missing default camera, missing default microphone, missing default speaker, and missing default whiteboard camera. | Learn more about monitoring Google Meet hardware issues.
Use companion mode to check-in to a Google Meet conference room, so everyone can know you by name
If you’re joining a meeting from a conference room, you can use companion mode on your personal device to check in to that specific room. Room check-in allows everyone on the call to easily identify who is in the conference room, rather than simply seeing the conference room name. | Learn more about companion mode check-in with Google Meet.
Completed rollouts
The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.
Scheduled Release Domains:
- Complete data-driven tasks faster with new smart chip data extraction in Google Sheets
- Improved experience for admitting or denying join requests in Google Meet
- Enhancing our web onboarding experience in Google Chat to help users get started quicker
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:
- See the top search results first in Gmail on mobile
- Declutter your conversations in Google Chat
- Plan, organize, and analyze assignments and grades with grading periods in Google Classroom
- Simplify and strengthen sign-in by enabling passkeys for your users, available now in open beta
- Write messages faster and easier with smart compose in Google Chat
- Visit a class using new option in Google Classroom
- Enhanced experience for picture-in-picture for Google Meet in Chrome
- View more insights and take quick action via the Chrome Browser Cloud Management home card in the Admin console
- Pull rich data from apps directly into Google Docs with third-party smart chips
- Expanding Google Drive log events to additional Google Workspace editions
- Expanding originality reports Google Classroom to Microsoft Word files
- Adding rich text formatting to comments in Google Classroom
- Launching in beta: programmatically write working locations with the Calendar API
For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).