Tag Archives: Google One

Google Workspace Individual is now available in Europe

We launched Google Workspace Individual over a year ago to help solo business owners reach new customers and bring their big ideas to life. Since then, customers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and Australia have all used it to grow, run and protect their businesses.

They’ve used Google Meet for consultations, Calendar for scheduling and customized layouts in Gmail to easily communicate in ways that reflect their brands. We’ve loved seeing how businesses of all stripes have brought their passions to the world — from caterers, creative consultants and real estate agents to pet sitters, hair stylists and life coaches.

Now, we’re launching Google Workspace Individual in Europe. This means that customers in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the U.K., and Switzerland can benefit from new and upcoming capabilities designed to help individual business owners stay focused on what they love, and spend less time on tasks like scheduling appointments and sending emails.

We’ve recently added powerful new capabilities to Workspace Individual, including:

  • The ability to live stream from Google Meet to YouTube so customers can reach a bigger audience
  • Professional layouts and multi-send for email newsletters, campaigns and announcements
  • Better appointment booking with customizable reminders, durations and exceptions
  • Improvements to secure video conferencing over Google Meet, with immersive backgrounds, improved sound and lighting, and the ability to bring meetings directly into the flow of work by integrating Meet with Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

And soon, customers will have the ability to add e-signatures directly to Google Docs. They’ll be able to quickly execute agreements from the familiar interface of Docs, without having to switch tabs or apps. See the full list of new and coming-soon features.

With this expansion of Google Workspace Individual, solo business owners in Europe can run, grow and protect their businesses with apps they’re already familiar with. This means more time helping customers and less time scheduling, emailing and updating calendars. In the months ahead, we’ll continue to bring Workspace Individual to an expanding list of countries.

Sign up today with a 14-day trial

Sign up for Google Workspace Individual today with a 14-day trial, or learn more about Google Workspace Individual on our website. If you’re not a business owner but still want premium capabilities for personal use, Google Workspace premium is also now available with Google One 2TB+ plans[5a49a0], which include expanded cloud storage, advanced Photos editing features and more.

Google One now has premium Google Workspace features

When we launched Google One a little over four years ago, our goal was to create a membership to help you get the most out of Google — starting with more storage and expert support. Over the years, we’ve introduced new ways to get more value from your membership, like a VPN for added security, advanced Google Photos editing tools and Google Store rewards.

Today, we’re bringing an even more premium experience to Google One members. Several Google Workspace capabilities, previously only available to businesses with paid Google Workspace subscriptions, are coming to our Premium 2 TB and higher plans.[5967c5]Let’s take a closer look at these new “Google Workspace premium” features.

Stay connected with enhanced video calling

From keeping in touch with loved ones to learning new skills, video calls have become a core part of our daily lives. To help Google One members stay connected, we’re offering enhanced video calling features from Google Meet in Google Workspace.

Now, you don’t need to stick to the one-hour time limit for group video calls — you can chat with your favorite people for up to 24 hours (great for virtual movie nights and socially-distanced gatherings). You can also filter out background noise, like dog barks or construction sounds, so everyone can hear you more clearly. And finally, you can securely record and store calls to Google Drive to relive and share special moments like virtual birthday celebrations.

A table displays the features and benefits available to Google One members on the 100 GB, 200 GB and 2 TB plans, with the 2 TB plan outlined in red, yellow, green and blue.

Enhanced video calling is starting to roll out today for Google One members on Premium 2 TB and above plans in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and Australia — with more countries coming soon. Over time, Google One members will get access to additional select premium features from Google Workspace — across Google Meet, Gmail and Calendar — and other Google products.

If you’re not already a Google One member, you can sign up for a Premium 2 TB Google One plan. If you’re a business interested in the full set of professional Google Workspace features, sign up for a Google Workspace Business plan.

VPN by Google One comes to iOS

When we launched the VPN by Google One for Android in the U.S., we wanted to give you an extra layer of online protection for your phone and the peace of mind that your connection is safer. Today, we’re sharing the latest updates to the VPN, which help bring protection to even more people and make it even easier to use.

Bringing peace of mind to iOS users and more countries

Today, we’re beginning to roll out the VPN to iOS devices. Similar to Android, the VPN will be available to Google One members on Premium plans (2 TB and higher) through the Google One app on iOS. Plus, members can share their plan and the VPN with up to five family members at no extra cost, so they can all use the VPN, no matter whether they’re using an Android or iOS phone.

A smartphone displays an animation of the VPN by Google One app.

We also recently expanded the VPN in 10 more countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. And we’ll expand to more countries over time.

Making the VPN by Google One even easier to use

You may have seen that we also added features to the VPN for Android that make it even easier to use:

  • Safe Disconnect: Only use the internet when the VPN is activated.
  • App Bypass: Allow specific apps to use a standard connection instead of the VPN.
  • Snooze: Temporarily turn off the VPN.

Privacy and security are always core to everything we make. Our systems have advanced security built in to help ensure no one uses the VPN to tie your online activity to your identity. Our client libraries are also open sourced, and our end-to-end systems have been independently audited. Our VPN has the full certification from the Internet of Secure Things Alliance (ioXt) and passed all eight of ioXt’s security principles.

We'll keep adding more security features and benefits to our Premium plans, so you know your data is safe. If you’re not already a member, you can sign up for a 2 TB Google One plan.

A graphic showing and comparing the various Google One plans; Basic, Standard, and Premium.

Google Store rewards give you Store credit on hardware purchases from the Google Store. This is only available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom. Pro Sessions have limited appointments available on a first come, first served basis. Google Photos editing features are only available on devices with at least 3 GB RAM running Android 8.0 or iOS 14.0 and above

You can learn more about Google One plans and benefits at one.google.com/about.

Get the new Pixel and more, with Pixel Pass

Today, we introduced the new Pixel 6 and Pixel Pro, and we’re also announcing a whole new way to get them. Pixel Pass brings together the latest Pixel phone with Google’s best mobile services, device protection and regular device upgrades — all in one easy subscription.

Pixel Pass is $45 per month for the Pixel 6 and $55 per month for the Pixel 6 Pro. With both Pixel Pass plans, you’ll get the most personal and helpful phone we’ve ever created, combined with the best of Google services to get the most out of your new device. That includes:

  • YouTube Premium for ad-free watching and background play while using other apps
  • YouTube Music Premium for ad-free, uninterrupted listening
  • Google One with 200 GB of safe, reliable cloud storage for full resolution photos and videos, Google Store discounts, automatic phone backup and more
  • Google Play Pass with access to hundreds of games and apps completely free of ads and in-app purchases
  • Preferred Care coverage to cover life’s little accidents with hassle-free device repairs

You can subscribe to Pixel Pass on the Google Store or with a phone plan on Google Fi. When you subscribe to Pixel Pass on the Google Store, you save up to $294 over two years. Plus, your Pixel phone is unlocked, so it works with all major carriers. And if you subscribe through Google Fi with a phone plan, you can save an additional $5 off your monthly Fi plan, totaling up to $414 in savings over two years.

Once you’re subscribed to Pixel Pass, you can manage everything in one place and pay with just one low monthly bill. And if you try it out and it’s just not right for you, you can cancel anytime — just pay off the remaining value of your Pixel phone at regular price.

Pixel Pass with Pixel 6 is available for pre-order today in the U.S. starting at $45 per month on Google Store or Google Fi.

How leading Google One is like solving a puzzle

When office life became video call life in 2020, people around the world experienced the drain of remote meetings. Larissa Fontaine might be the one exception. “Video calls can be hard because you’re just moving from one thing to the next...but I also get a lot of energy from them,” she says with a smile. “I realized I actually like jumping from topic to topic.” Holding up her notebook, she admits one caveat: “But I have to write things down! Otherwise I won’t retain it all.” 

By “it all,” Larissa means the many product teams she meets with every day. Larissa is the vice president of Google One, a subscription service that includes cloud storage and extra benefits to give users peace of mind, such as automatic phone backup, enhanced security features, family sharing…the list goes on. This role requires her to act as something of a puzzle master, making sure everything works together just right, so that different departments, partners and ultimately — most importantly — customers get what they need. Luckily, she’s up to the task. “I enjoy problem-solving,” she says. “I find it really invigorating.”


How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in tech?

I say I work on Google One, which is a subscription that gives you more storage and premium features across different Google products — basically, a membership to help you get more out of Google. I work with Googlers across different areas like engineering, marketing and design to figure out how to make Google One even more valuable for our members. 


What are the most challenging and most rewarding parts of your job?

They’re the same thing: partnering with so many different teams and products across the entire company. It can be complicated trying to solve for the needs of that many product areas. At the same time, when teams come together and find a great solution, it’s exciting. I am always impressed with the creativity and collaboration required to make amazing experiences for users that also work really well for different products and our partners.


Did you always want to work in tech?

I took a mechanical engineering class in college, and it was sort of like “MacGyver,” where you have things like foam core and string and tape and you have to figure out how to precisely move an object across the room without picking it up. I loved figuring out ways to solve these crazy problems, I loved being part of a team, and I loved being super hands-on building things. I ended up majoring in mechanical engineering and then also getting my master’s degree in mechanical engineering. 

I want to hear how you’re doing, what’s going on in the rest of your life — and then we can get into the potentially harder, thornier stuff we need to talk about.

How have you seen the subscription model take over tech?

The open, free internet is still incredibly important, and ad-supported models provide significant value to users. There are also cases where ad-supported solutions may not be the right fit. Subscriptions are growing across industries, not just tech. Car companies are building subscriptions, kids’ clothing companies — there are many examples. And it’s because people rightfully expect ongoing value for the things they buy. Buying something that’s one-and-done, that doesn’t consistently get better, isn’t as appealing. Tech lends itself particularly well to this idea, because we can provide more innovation and continuous improvements over time. 


What’s a habit or routine that helps you in your job?  

I have a habit of spending the first few minutes of every meeting just connecting with my coworkers, especially in video calls. Having an awareness of other people's overall wellbeing is personally important to me, and I also think it helps us work better together. I want to hear how you’re doing, what’s going on in the rest of your life — and then we can get into the potentially harder, thornier stuff we need to talk about. It makes my work a lot more enjoyable and I think it makes the people I work with feel the same — at least I hope so! 

We created these values for our team a couple of years ago, and one of them is “woohoo often.” It sounds silly, but we do a group “woohoo!” out loud when we have a win or hit a milestone, personal or work-related. We kept it going throughout working from home, and it felt a little strange at first to cheer “woohoo!” over a video call, but it’s actually been great. 


What’s something about you that would surprise people? 

I did gymnastics growing up and was on the national team for about nine years and I competed on two world championship teams. I have a move named after me, the Fontaine. It was considered difficult at the time, but you’ll see far more impressive skills from Simone Biles in Tokyo!

Updating Google Photos’ storage policy to build for the future

We launched Google Photos more than five years ago with the mission of being the home for your memories. What started as an app to manage your photos and videos has evolved into a place to reflect on meaningful moments in your life. Today, more than 4 trillion photos are stored in Google Photos, and every week 28 billion new photos and videos are uploaded. 

Since so many of you rely on Google Photos to store your memories, it’s important that it’s not just a great product, but also continues to meet your needs over the long haul. In order to welcome even more of your memories and build Google Photos for the future, we are changing our unlimited High quality storage policy. 

Starting June 1, 2021, any new photos and videos you upload will count toward the free 15 GB of storage that comes with every Google Account or the additional storage you’ve purchased as a Google One member. Your Google Account storage is shared across Drive, Gmail and Photos. This change also allows us to keep pace with the growing demand for storage. And, as always, we uphold our commitment to not use information in Google Photos for advertising purposes. We know this is a big shift and may come as a surprise, so we wanted to let you know well in advance and give you resources to make this easier. 


Existing High quality photos and videos are exempt from this change 


Any photos or videos you’ve uploaded in High quality before June 1, 2021 will not count toward your 15GB of free storage. This means that photos and videos backed up before June 1, 2021 will still be considered free and exempt from the storage limit. You can verify your backup quality at any time in the Photos app by going to back up & sync in Settings.


If you back up your photos and videos in Original quality, these changes do not affect you. As always, your Original quality photos and videos will continue to count toward your 15 GB of free storage across your Google Account. 

If you have a Pixel 1-5, photos uploaded from that device won’t be impacted. Photos and videos uploaded in High quality from that device will continue to be exempt from this change, even after June 1, 2021. 


There’s no action you need to take today


This change does not take effect for another six months, so you don’t need to do anything right now. And once this change does take effect on June 1, 2021, over 80 percent of you should still be able to store roughly three more years worth of memories with your free 15 GB of storage. As your storage nears 15 GB, we will notify you in the app and follow up by email. 


Understand and manage your quota


To understand how this impacts you, you can see a personalized estimate for how long your storage may last. This estimate takes into account how frequently you back up photos, videos and other content to your Google Account.


And in June 2021, you’ll be able to access a new free tool in the Photos app to easily manage your backed up photos and videos. This tool will help you review the memories you want to keep while also surfacing shots you might prefer to delete, like dark or blurry photos or large videos.


If you decide you want more space, you can always expand your storage through Google One. Plans start at $1.99 per month in the U.S. for 100 GB of storage and include additional member benefits like access to Google experts, shared family plans and more.

 

Thank you for using Google Photos and we hope to continue to be the home for your memories. You can learn more about this change in our Help Center.


Posted by Shimrit Ben-Yair, Vice President, Google Photos

An update to storage policies across your Google Account

Over the past decade, Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos have helped billions of people securely store and manage their emails, documents, photos, videos and more. Today, people are uploading more content than ever before—in fact, more than 4.3 million GB are added across Gmail, Drive and Photos every day. 

To continue providing everyone with a great storage experience and to keep pace with the growing demand, we're announcing important upcoming storage changes to your Google Account. These changes will apply to Photos and Drive (specifically Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms and Jamboard files) and will enable us to continue investing in these products for the future. We're also introducing new policies for consumer Google Accounts that are either inactive or over their storage limit across Gmail, Drive (including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms and Jamboard files) and Photos, to bring our policies more in line with industry standards. 

These storage policy changes won’t take effect until June 1, 2021. However, we wanted to let you know well in advance and give you the resources to navigate these changes. Google Workspace subscribers, and G Suite for Education and G Suite for Nonprofits customers should refer to our Google Workspace Updates post to understand how these changes may affect them.

As always, every Google Account will continue to come with 15 GB of free storage across Gmail, Drive and Photos, which we estimate should last the majority of our users several years.  Because the content you store with these apps is primarily personal, it’s not used for advertising purposes. We’ll also continue to give you visibility and control over your storage, and provide tools to help you easily manage it. 


New content that will count toward your Google Account storage


Beginning June 1, any new photo or video uploaded in High quality in Google Photos will count toward your free 15 GB storage quota or any additional storage you’ve purchased as a Google One member. To make this transition easier, we’ll exempt all High quality photos and videos you back up before June 1. This includes all of the High quality photos and videos you currently store with Google Photos. Most people who back up in High quality should have years before they need to take action—in fact, we estimate that 80 percent of you should have at least three years before you reach 15 GB. You can learn more about this change in our Google Photos post.


Also starting June 1, any new Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms or Jamboard file will begin counting toward your free 15 GB of allotted storage or any additional storage provided through Google One. Existing files within these products will not count toward storage, unless they’re modified on or after June 1. You can learn more in our Help Center.


A new policy for accounts that are inactive or over storage limit


We’re introducing new policies for consumer accounts that are either inactive or over their storage limit across Gmail, Drive (including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms and Jamboard files) and/or Photos to better align with common practices across the industry. After June 1: 

  • If you're inactive in one or more of these services for two years (24 months), Google may delete the content in the product(s) in which you're inactive. 

  • Similarly, if you're over your storage limit for two years, Google may delete your content across Gmail, Drive and Photos.

We will notify you multiple times before we attempt to remove any content so you have ample opportunities to take action. The simplest way to keep your account active is to periodically visit Gmail, Drive or Photos on the web or mobile, while signed in and connected to the internet. 

The Inactive Account Manager can help you manage specific content and notify a trusted contact if you stop using your Google Account for a certain period of time (between 3-18 months). Note that the new two year inactive policy will apply regardless of your Inactive Account Manager settings. 

You can learn more about these changes in our Help Center.


How to manage your storage


To help you manage your Google Account storage, anyone can use the free storage manager in the Google One app and on the web, which gives you an easy way to see how you’re using your storage across Gmail, Drive and Photos. You can keep the files you want, delete the ones you no longer need and make room for more—all in one place.



In addition to helping us meet the growing demand for storage, these changes align our storage policies across products. As always, we remain committed to providing you a great experience and hope to continue to serve you in the future. You can learn more about this change in our Help Center.


Posted by Jose Pastor, Vice President, Google Workspace, and Shimrit Ben-Yair, Vice President, Google Photos

More online protection with the new VPN by Google One

We’ve all done it. You’re sitting in a cafe browsing your favorite online store and you enter your credit card number while connected to an unsecured Wi-Fi network. While convenient, a public Wi-Fi network may be less secure than your personal one. This can put your personal information at risk of theft from hackers.

To give you peace of mind that your data is safe, we’re announcing the new VPN by Google One on our 2 TB and higher plans to provide an extra layer of online protection for your Android phone. 

We already build advanced security into all our products, and the VPN extends that security to encrypt all of your phone’s online traffic, no matter what app or browser you’re using. The VPN is built into the Google One app, so with just one tap, you can rest assured knowing your connection is safe from hackers.

VPN by Google One demonstration

We’re also now rolling out Pro Sessions by Google One with VPN support. With Pro Sessions, you can schedule one-on-one online sessions with a Google expert to learn more about VPNs and how to stay safer online. You’ll get access to the VPN and Pro Sessions in addition to the 2 TB of storage and other member benefits you already get with the plan, like 10 percent back in store credit on all Google Store device purchases. Plus, if you’ve shared your 2 TB Google One plan with family members (up to five additional people), they can also enable the VPN on their own devices at no extra cost. These are just a few more ways that a Google One membership helps you get the most out of Google with more peace of mind and helpful experiences.

VPN by Google One plans

Google Store rewards give you Store credit on hardware purchases from the Google Store. This is only available in U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany and United Kingdom. One thing to note on Pro Sessions: there are limited appointments available on a first come, first served basis.

The VPN by Google One will roll out in the United States in the coming weeks through the Google One app (Android only) and will expand to more countries and to iOS, Windows and Mac in the coming months. Pro Sessions will also be available in the coming weeks to all 2 TB members in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.

If you’re not already a member, you can sign up for a 2 TB Google One plan here.

More online protection with the new VPN by Google One

We’ve all done it. You’re sitting in a cafe browsing your favorite online store and you enter your credit card number while connected to an unsecured Wi-Fi network. While convenient, a public Wi-Fi network may be less secure than your personal one. This can put your personal information at risk of theft from hackers.

To give you peace of mind that your data is safe, we’re announcing the new VPN by Google One on our 2 TB and higher plans to provide an extra layer of online protection for your Android phone. 

We already build advanced security into all our products, and the VPN extends that security to encrypt all of your phone’s online traffic, no matter what app or browser you’re using. The VPN is built into the Google One app, so with just one tap, you can rest assured knowing your connection is safe from hackers.

VPN by Google One demonstration

We’re also now rolling out Pro Sessions by Google One with VPN support. With Pro Sessions, you can schedule one-on-one online sessions with a Google expert to learn more about VPNs and how to stay safer online. You’ll get access to the VPN and Pro Sessions in addition to the 2 TB of storage and other member benefits you already get with the plan, like 10 percent back in store credit on all Google Store device purchases. Plus, if you’ve shared your 2 TB Google One plan with family members (up to five additional people), they can also enable the VPN on their own devices at no extra cost. These are just a few more ways that a Google One membership helps you get the most out of Google with more peace of mind and helpful experiences.

VPN by Google One plans

Google Store rewards give you Store credit on hardware purchases from the Google Store. This is only available in U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany and United Kingdom. One thing to note on Pro Sessions: there are limited appointments available on a first come, first served basis.

The VPN by Google One will roll out in the United States in the coming weeks through the Google One app (Android only) and will expand to more countries and to iOS, Windows and Mac in the coming months. Pro Sessions will also be available in the coming weeks to all 2 TB members in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.

If you’re not already a member, you can sign up for a 2 TB Google One plan here.

More online protection with the new VPN by Google One

We’ve all done it. You’re sitting in a cafe browsing your favorite online store and you enter your credit card number while connected to an unsecured Wi-Fi network. While convenient, a public Wi-Fi network may be less secure than your personal one. This can put your personal information at risk of theft from hackers.

To give you peace of mind that your data is safe, we’re announcing the new VPN by Google One on our 2 TB and higher plans to provide an extra layer of online protection for your Android phone. 

We already build advanced security into all our products, and the VPN extends that security to encrypt all of your phone’s online traffic, no matter what app or browser you’re using. The VPN is built into the Google One app, so with just one tap, you can rest assured knowing your connection is safe from hackers.

VPN by Google One demonstration

We’re also now rolling out Pro Sessions by Google One with VPN support. With Pro Sessions, you can schedule one-on-one online sessions with a Google expert to learn more about VPNs and how to stay safer online. You’ll get access to the VPN and Pro Sessions in addition to the 2 TB of storage and other member benefits you already get with the plan, like 10 percent back in store credit on all Google Store device purchases. Plus, if you’ve shared your 2 TB Google One plan with family members (up to five additional people), they can also enable the VPN on their own devices at no extra cost. These are just a few more ways that a Google One membership helps you get the most out of Google with more peace of mind and helpful experiences.

VPN by Google One plans

Google Store rewards give you Store credit on hardware purchases from the Google Store. This is only available in U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany and United Kingdom. One thing to note on Pro Sessions: there are limited appointments available on a first come, first served basis.

The VPN by Google One will roll out in the United States in the coming weeks through the Google One app (Android only) and will expand to more countries and to iOS, Windows and Mac in the coming months. Pro Sessions will also be available in the coming weeks to all 2 TB members in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.

If you’re not already a member, you can sign up for a 2 TB Google One plan here.