Tag Archives: Google Meet

New in-meeting reactions for Google Meet

What’s changing

You can now use emojis to share in-meeting reactions in Google Meet on Web, Meet Hardware devices, and iOS, with Android coming soon. 

These reactions will show as a small badge in the sender’s video tile and floating up the left side of the screen. When there are multiple user engagements, you’ll see a burst of emojis on the left side of your screen. 

Reactions on web

Reactions on mobile




To share a reaction, select the smile icon in the control bar to get the reaction bar. You can hover on this bar to select the skin tone of your choice, which will then be applied to all emojis subject to change color.


Who’s impacted

Admin and end users


Why you’d use it 

In-meeting reactions provide a lightweight, non-disruptive way to engage and participate in meetings without interrupting the speaker. Further, with options to select skin tones that best represent your identity, you can participate authentically.


We hope these features make it easier for you, your colleagues, and stakeholders to stay better connected and engaged, whether they’re working from home, the office, or anywhere in between. 

Getting started




Rollout pace


  • Rapid Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on January 16, 2023
  • Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility starting on January 23, 2023
  • Users with personal Google accounts: Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) starting on January 11, 2023


Availability

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

Resources



Roadmap


Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 23, 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.


Updated experience for exporting your organization’s data
We’re introducing new capabilities for exporting your organization’s data, giving our customers greater flexibility over managing their organization’s data export needs. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more. 


Google Voice Standard customers can assign phone numbers in other Voice countries in their region 
Google Voice customers on the Standard subscription in Canada, Europe and the US can assign phone numbers to any supported country in their region:
  • Customers in Europe can assign phone numbers in supported European countries
  • Customers in Canada and the US can assign phone numbers in both countries
This change gives our customers on the Standard SKU the flexibility to deploy Voice across the different countries they operate in within the same region. | Available for Google Voice Standard customers only. | Learn more.


More filter effects available for Google Meet
Google Workspace users can now access a variety of new filter effects on Google Meet on the web and mobile. These filters, such as loghead, strawberry, and working bunny, can help bring an element of fun to meetings. | Learn more. 


Quickly refine search results in Google Chat with search chips
We’re expanding an existing mobile feature to the web that helps you find exactly what you’re looking for much faster using search chips that filter your search results. | Learn more. 



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.


Rapid Release Domains:


Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:


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


More filter effects available for Google Meet

Quick summary

Google Workspace users can now access a variety of new filter effects on Google Meet on the web and mobile. These filters, such as loghead, strawberry, and working bunny, can help bring an element of fun to meetings. The effects can be found in the effects panel and can be added before or during a call.


Additional details

Admins can control whether these effects are on or off for their users — by default, this setting is:
  • OFF for Google Workspace Education users.
  • ON by default for all other Google Workspace editions, including Google Workspace Individual users.

Getting started


Rollout pace


Availability

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

Resources



Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 16, 2022

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 and G Suite customers.


Drive approvals available on Android and iOS apps

Google Drive users have had the ability to send an item for approval on the web since 2021. These approvers can comment, approve, or reject a request on a file. Starting this week, Drive approvals are now available on the Drive Android and iOS apps. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more.


New keyboard shortcuts for Google Sheets on Android

In continuing our mission to provide a top-class user experience on large screen devices, we’re releasing new and updated keyboard shortcut options on Android that better align with the Google Sheets web experience. | View the full list of shortcuts and learn more here. 


Additional functionality for storage management

Adding shared drive storage limits and shared drives IDs are now available as part of the new set of tools for managing storage. Please refer to our original announcement for more information. | 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.


Facet Enhancements for Cloud Search

It’s now easier to configure and use Cloud Search search filters and facets with multiple enhancements to our existing functionalities. With this launch, you can use the Cloud Search Query API to configure new additional capabilities. | Available to Google Cloud Search Customers. | Learn more. 


Easily format and display code in Google Docs

We’ve added a new smart canvas feature that makes this process much easier by enabling you to format and display code in Docs with code blocks. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits only. | Learn more. 


Email notifications from Google now available in the Alert Center

Admins routinely receive notifications from Google to inform them about important Google Workspace updates. Now when admins receive these notifications, they’ll also be captured in the Alert Center in the admin console. This will help make it easier for admins to stay on top of important communications from Google. | Learn more. 


Enjoy improved call performance with intelligent network switching in Google Voice

To ensure the best call experience, Google Voice now automatically switches ongoing calls between cellular data service and Wi-Fi when it determines that one network type will lead to better call quality. | Learn more.


Expanded language support for captions and translated captions in Google Meet

We’ve expanded language support for standard captions and translated captions in Google Meet. | Standard captions are available for all users. Translated captions are available for meetings organized by Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers.| Learn More.


Client-side encryption for Gmail available in beta

We’re expanding customer access to client-side encryption in Gmail on the web. Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers are eligible to apply for the beta until January 20th, 2022. | Learn more.


Completed feature rollouts

The features below have finished rolling out to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog posts for additional details.


Rapid Release Domains:


Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:



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



Expanded language support for captions and translated captions in Google Meet

What’s changing 

In January 2022, we announced the general availability of translated captions in Google Meet. Translated captions provide real-time translations of the speaker's language, helping to make meetings more inclusive and collaborative for meeting participants. 


We’re expanding on this feature and beginning today, you can: 
  • Translate English calls into Japanese, Mandarin (simplified), and Swedish 
  • Translate French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish calls into English 


Additionally, standard captions are now available in Japanese, Russian, Italian, Korean, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin (traditional). Visit the Help Center for a complete list of available languages. 


Some languages will include a “Beta” tag as we continue to optimize performance and introduce additional languages over time. We will continue to provide updates on the Workspace Updates blog as more languages become available.


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be available by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more about captions and translated captions in Google Meet.
  • Meeting participants: 
    • You can use live translated captions if the meeting is organized by a user with an eligible Google Workspace edition. 
    • Captions are available for all users.

Rollout pace



Availability

Translated captions
  • Available for meetings organized by Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade


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

Resources


Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 9, 2022

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 and G Suite customers. 




See collaborator avatars in the toolbar of apps on Android devices 
In continuation of our efforts to improve the Google Workspace experience on large screen Android devices, we’re moving collaborator avatars from the overflow menu into the app toolbar at the top of your Android tablets and mobile devices. 
widgets on android
Pin table headers when using pageless format on Google Docs 
When your Google Doc is set to the pageless format, you can now pin one or more table rows as header rows. When you scroll vertically past the top of the table, the headers will remain visible at the top of the window until you scroll to the bottom of the table. | Learn more. 
pinned headers
Easily share files in Google Meet chat on web 
Currently, when you share the link to a Google Drive file in Meet chat, you have to ensure the document is shared with those on the call, either proactively or reactively, on a separate screen. Starting this week, when sharing a file in Meet chat, you will now be prompted to update the file sharing permissions to reflect which meeting attendees you’d like to have access to a particular file, all within Meet. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains began December 5, 2022 at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). | Learn more. 


Warning banners for external email recipients on iOS devices
Beginning today, you'll see a warning banner when adding external recipients to an email on iOS. These warnings are already available for Gmail on the web and Android devices. Note that admins can turn these specific warning labels on or off for their organization. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains began December 9, 2022 at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). 


Improvements for using Miro in Google Meet
We've made two enhancements for the Miro experience within Google Meet:
  • Meeting participants will see a dialog invite instead of a chat message asking them to join a whiteboarding session.
  • Meeting hosts now have the option to end collaboration for the group as a whole. Alternatively, meeting participants will have the ability to leave the session individually.
We hope these improvements create a smoother collaborative experience when using Miro within Google Meet. | Learn more here and here.






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.



More ways to prevent data exfiltration on iOS devices 
In 2020, we released several data exfiltration protections for iOS devices. Today, we’re announcing the next set of enhancements for data exfiltration protections for iOS. We’re expanding these security controls to give admins more ways to protect sensitive company data on iOS devices. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise for Education, and Cloud Identity Premium customers only. | Learn more. 


New default setting for content managers to modify shared drives coming in February 2023 
Starting this week, admins will see a new shared drive setting that can be enabled or disabled to give content managers the ability to share folders in shared drives. In February 2023, all content managers will have the ability to share folders by default. If you’d like this feature to remain off for end users, disable the setting now. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more. 


Create drop-down chips in Google Sheets 
We’ve added dropdown chips in Google Sheets, a custom formatting feature that is already available in Docs. They also enable you to easily indicate statuses or various project milestones outlined in your Sheet. | Learn more. 


Collaborate with colleagues in Google Slides through a new ‘Follow’ feature
We’re introducing a new ‘Follow’ feature that allows you to collaborate with colleagues in real-time on Google Slides. Simply, click on a collaborator’s avatar in the Slides toolbar to jump to whatever slide they are on, and continue to move with them as they navigate and make changes to a presentation. | Learn more.



Completed feature rollouts


The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both in the past week. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.


Rapid Release Domains:


Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:




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

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 2, 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 meeting quality when joining on virtual machines 
If you use a Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) such as Citrix or VMWare to join Google Meet calls, you’ll notice an increase in video and audio quality. Meet will now detect whether you’re joining from a VDI and automatically adjust for the best performance. | Learn more. 


Use the Cloud Search Query API to set Suggest Filters to enhance Cloud Search results 
It’s now easier to configure and use Cloud Search search filters and facets with multiple enhancements to our existing functionalities. With this launch, you can use the Cloud Search Query API to configure new additional capabilities. | Available to Google Cloud Search Customers only. | Learn more.



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

Improved meeting quality when joining on virtual machines

What’s changing

If you use a Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) such as Citrix or VMWare to join Google Meet calls, you’ll notice an increase in video and audio quality. Meet will now detect whether you’re joining from a VDI and automatically adjust for the best performance. This optimization will also help cut down on the demand put on your VDIs, such as CPU, GPU, and memory usage, helping improve meeting quality and overall performance. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: Ensure Google Meet can detect that it’s running inside a virtual machine (VM) by enabling the Enterprise Hardware Platform API policy in Chrome. Visit the API page and the Help Center to learn more about how to set Chrome policies for users or browsers and use VDIs with Google Meet. 
  • End users: There is no end user action required — Google Meet will automatically optimize your experience when using a VDI. 


Rollout pace 



Availability 

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


Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – November 25, 2022

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 and G Suite customers. 



Resizing Pivot Tables in Sheets
We’re excited to announce a requested feature that allows you to resize the pivot table editor side panel when creating or editing a pivot table. This functionality is especially useful when the names of columns or fields are too long and you want to see the text in its entirety. | Learn more.

Improved search results based on recent search activity in Gmail
In July, we announced better search and suggestion options in Gmail. Now, when using Gmail on the web, this also includes better search results based on your recent search activity in Gmail. This enhancement to Gmail search makes results more relevant and contextual. | Learn more. 


Share Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files in Google Meet chat 
Earlier this year, we announced the ability to join or present to a Google Meet call from Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides. Now, if you are presenting or joining a meeting from a file, you can easily share that file with meeting attendees through in-meeting chat. With this update you’re able to grant access to a document, spreadsheet, or presentation to all or select meeting attendees, allowing everyone in the meeting to collaborate while having a conversation. | Learn more. 

Previous announcements


There are no previous announcements to share this week. For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).



Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – November 18, 2022

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 and G Suite customers. 



Drag content from Google Slides into other apps on Android
Over the last several months, we’ve added numerous new features and functionality to products like Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Keep on Android devices. This week, we’ve launched the ability to easily drag text and image content from Google Slides into other apps on Android. | Learn more.

Improving drag & drop on the Google Drive Android app
Earlier this year, we launched drag & drop in Drive, allowing you to quickly upload files by dragging and dropping them into the app. This week, we’re improving this feature by enabling you to also drag & drop files and folders around in your Drive to move their location as you see fit. This can be done either in the two-window view or in the single app view. | Learn more. 


Full mouse support now available on Google Docs Android App
Expect full mouse support while using Google Docs on Android that will mirror mouse behavior on the web. For example, clicking and dragging across text will now select that specific text instead of panning the entire document. 


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.



Concentrate or disconnect with scheduled Do Not Disturb on Google Chat
You can now set a recurring schedule so you are not disturbed by Chat notifications on web, Android, and iOS. | Learn more. 


Use Access Approvals to control data access during support or maintenance 
This week, we introduced Access Approvals, which builds on Access Transparency and Access Management. Access Approvals allows customers to explicitly approve or deny Google employees access to data during support and general maintenance. Access approvals will be rolling out over the course of the next several weeks. | Access Approvals is part of Google Workspace Assured Controls, which is available as an add-on for Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers only. For more information, contact your Google account representative. | Learn more.


New Consolidated Controls Page for Google Takeout
Beginning November 15, 2022, admins can manage Takeout settings from a new consolidated controls page, located at Admin console > Account > Google Takeout > User access to Takeout for Google services. We anticipate the new page to be fully rolled out within the next few weeks. | Learn more. 


Sharing suggestions in Google Drive make collaborating easier
We've made it easier to share files with the people you typically share with in Google Drive. With this feature, suggested recipients will appear in the sharing dialog to speed up collaboration across your organization. | Learn more. 



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