Google Workspace Updates: December 2023

Certain Google Meet hardware information will no longer be accessible on the Admin console

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

What’s changingWe’re making some changes to how certain Google Meet hardware information can be accessed:

The following fields will no longer be exported from the Meet Devices list page of the Admin console (Devices > Google Meet hardware > Devices):

assignedCalendarGeneratedResourceName
assignedRoomResourceName
assignedRoomBuilding
assignedRoomFloor

If you receive email alerts when a hardware issue is detected, those emails will no longer include the “Asset ___location” value.

This information can still be found by going to the device detail page under the Calendar card or by querying the resources.calendars.list method in the Admin SDK API using the resource calendar email.

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about connectivity and peripheral alerts.
End users: There is no end user impact or action required.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 2, 2024

Availability

This update impacts all Google Workspace customers with Meet Hardware devices.

Resources

New guide to help screen reader users transition from Gmail HTML view to Gmail Standard view

Monday, December 18, 2023

What’s changingEarlier this year, we informed users that Gmail Basic HTML view for desktop web and mobile web would be disabled starting in early 2024. We know that many users in the accessibility community use Basic HTML view, so today we’re sharing a guide to help screen reader users make the switch from HTML to Standard view. This new guide, along with an existing resource to ensure the best Gmail experience when using a desktop screen reader, should help users get up to speed on Gmail Standard view.
If you haven’t used Standard view recently, you’ll notice we’ve made numerous usability improvements, including enhancements for people that prefer or require the precision of navigating the user interface by keyboard or screen reader. Accessibility of Standard view has significantly improved over the last few years and we’re committed to continuing to improve the accessibility experience and making new features accessible going forward.
Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. You can use Gmail on your browser in Basic HTML view through February 2024. After this, Gmail automatically changes to Standard view.
End users: Once Basic HTML view is disabled, users will automatically be redirected to the Standard Gmail view which provides the latest in Gmail security and features. Users on old browsers may need to update their browser to use the Standard view. On mobile, users can also download the official Gmail app. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Gmail with a screen reader.

Rollout pace

Gmail automatically changes to Standard view starting February 2024. If you prefer, you can switch to Standard view now.

Availability

This impacts all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - December 15, 2023

Friday, December 15, 2023

2 New updatesUnless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if 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.
We have begun enforcing 2-step verification for all admin accounts Two-step verification (2SV) is a critical security measure that has been proven to reduce password-based hijacking by more than 50%. We are committed to protecting the security of our users and are taking additional steps to help customers guard against data compromise and prevent account takeovers.
We have begun enforcing 2SV for all admin accounts and will continue this enforcement on an ongoing basis. As of December 2023, this change is already in effect for some customers. When this goes into effect for your organization, you will receive the following notifications:

We highly encourage all administrators to turn on 2SV as soon as possible. Visit the Help Center for more details and further guidance.

Dynamic groups limit increased to 500 We’re increasing the number of dynamic groups a customer can have from 100 to 500. Dynamic groups are defined as groups whose membership is managed automatically based on specific criteria, such as a user’s department or ___location. This increase gives admins more flexibility to create dynamic groups as needed and cuts down on manual group management tasks that would otherwise be required. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains at a gradual pace (up to 15 days for feature visibility). | Available for Google Workspace Frontline Standard, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus, Enterprise Essentials Plus, and Cloud Identity Premium customers only. | Learn more about dynamic groups.

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

Meet Add-ons SDK available in Developer Preview

The Google Meet Web Add-ons SDK is available through our Developer Preview Program. Developers can use the SDK to bring their app experience right into Meet. End users can install, open, and collaborate in apps right inside a meeting, either as the meeting focal point, or in the sidebar — all without ever leaving Meet. | Learn more about Meet Add-ons SDK .

Huddly cameras bring continuous framing to Google Meet Series One room kits

As part of our initiative to bring adaptive framing to Google Meet meeting rooms, we’re proud to announce that you can now access Huddly’s continuous framing capability available as part of the Series One room kit hardware devices. | Available to all Google Workspace customers using Google Meet Series One room kits only. | Learn more about Google Meet Series One.

Record and share your name pronunciation across Google Workspace products

From your Google account settings, you can now record your name and share its pronunciation with other users. The pronunciation can be played from your profile card across various Google Workspace tools such as Gmail or Google Docs on web or mobile devices. | Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline Starter, Frontline Standard, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more about name pronunciation.

Easy access to people, documents, building blocks and more in Google Docs

When moving to a blank line within your Doc, you will see an “@” button with the option to select, search and insert smart chips, such as people, dates, timers, or files, building blocks, calendar events, groups and more. | Learn more about bringing smart canvas features to the forefront of your workflow.

Excuse assignments in Google Classroom

Teachers can mark an assignment for a particular student as “Excused” instead of giving it a 0-100 score. This will exclude that particular assignment from the student’s overall grade. | Learn more about excusing assignments.

Introducing interactive questions for YouTube videos in Google Classroom

Educators can now turn any YouTube video into an interactive lesson by adding questions for their students to answer throughout the video. | Available to Education Plus and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade only. | Learn more about interactive videos.

Introducing the Bitbucket app for Google Chat

We’re adding Bitbucket for Google Chat. Bitbucket is a Git-based code and CI/CD tool optimized for teams using Atlassian’s Jira. | Learn more about Bitbucket app for Google Chat.

Use “Profile Discovery” to display basic information only in search results, available in open beta

Google Workspace admins can now turn on “Profile discovery” for their users. When turned on, users can customize how they appear across Google products to people who search for them by their phone number or email. Specifically, you can choose how you want your name to be displayed and how your profile picture will be displayed. | Learn more about Profile Discovery.

Completed rollouts

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

Rapid Release Domains:

1:1 video calling in the Google Meet mobile app is now available (Android only)
Star important messages in Google Chat
Additional enhancements to the search results page in Google Chat
Solve math equations easily with Smart Compose (Docs, Slides and Sheets only)

Scheduled Release Domains:

Filter by people or groups in Google Drive

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).

Use “Profile Discovery” to display basic information only in search results, available in open beta

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

What’s changingGoogle Workspace admins can now turn on “Profile discovery” for their users. When turned on, users can customize how they appear across Google products to people who search for them by their phone number or email. Specifically, you can choose how you want your name to be displayed and how your profile picture will be displayed. This feature is available in open beta, which means no additional sign-up is required to use the feature.

In the Admin console, under Directory Settings > Profile editing, you can turn “Profile discovery” on or off for your users.

To help people recognize you, we’ll share basic information needed to confirm your identity. After you interact with someone, they'll typically see your full name, profile picture, and more from your Google Account.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 12, 2023

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers

Resources

Introducing the Bitbucket app for Google Chat

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

What’s changing Following the recently announced Workday app for Google Chat that allows you to perform quick actions in Workday without leaving Google Chat, we’re excited to also introduce Bitbucket for Google Chat.
Bitbucket is a Git-based code and CI/CD tool optimized for teams using Atlassian’s Jira. The Bitbucket app for Google Chat will allow you to receive messages when events occur in your Bitbucket repositories, as well as perform quick actions, such as viewing and approving pull requests.

Getting started

Admins: In the Admin Console, you can specify whether your users can install the Bitbucket app for Google Chat from the Google Workspace Marketplace. You may also install the Bitbucket app for Google Chat on behalf of users in your ___domain. In order for the Chat app to work, a Bitbucket admin must also install the Google Chat app for Bitbucket from the Atlassian Marketplace.
End users: If allowed by your admin, you’ll be able to install Google Chat apps, such as Bitbucket for Google Chat, using the “New chat” button in Google Chat. The apps you install will appear in the Chat conversation list. Visit the Help Center to learn more about getting started with Bitbucket app for Google Chat.

Rollout pace

This app is available now for all users.

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Introducing interactive questions for YouTube videos in Google Classroom

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

What’s changingEducators can now turn any YouTube video into an interactive lesson by adding questions for their students to answer throughout the video.
The interactive questions feature turns a passive watching experience into an engaging one, and improves students’ understanding of a subject by providing them with the space to make mistakes, review incorrect answers and assess correct answers at their own pace.
Once students within a class have completed the video activity, educators will have access to a dashboard of key insights based on student engagement levels.

Introducing interactive questions for YouTube videos in Google Classroom

Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why you’d use it While interactive YouTube video assignments will be beneficial to students, it will also help educators identify concepts that need more instruction time, discover students who may need extra support and also shape future lesson plans. Educators are also able to scale individualized support since students will get real-time validation as they answer certain question types in the video activities.

Additional details You can now use the “Resources” tab in the Classroom left navigation to find and manage all your video activities and practice sets.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on December 12, 2023

Availability

Available to Education Plus and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade

Resources

Excuse assignments in Google Classroom

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

What’s changing Following the expansion of grading systems in Google Classroom, we’re adding an additional feature that gives teachers even more flexibility when it comes to grading for assignments and classwork.
Starting today, teachers can mark an assignment for a particular student as “Excused” instead of giving it a 0-100 score. This will exclude that particular assignment from the student’s overall grade. We hope this requested feature addresses various class scenarios, such as wanting to drop a student’s lowest assignment, excusing an assignment when a student is absent, or any other circumstance in which an assignment should not be included in a student’s grade.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about excused grading.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 12, 2023

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Help: Grade & return an assignment

Easy access to people, documents, building blocks and more in Google Docs

Monday, December 11, 2023

Update[January 30, 2024] We have rolled this feature back for Rapid Release domains while we evaluate performance and quality. We will provide an update with new rollout information for Rapid & Scheduled Release domains when possible.
[January 24, 2024] Rollout to Rapid Release domains has completed. We have paused rollout to Scheduled Release domains for this feature while we evaluate performance and quality. We will provide an update once rollout resumes.

What’s changingBuilding upon the recently introduced row of buttons at the top of your newly created Google Docs, we’re adding more ways to quickly find and insert relevant content directly into your document with an additional way to open the @-menu. This is another feature that boosts productivity and saves time by bringing smart canvas features to the forefront of your workflow.
When moving to a blank line within your Doc, you will see an “@” button with the option to select, search and insert smart chips, such as people, dates, timers, or files, building blocks, calendar events, groups and more.

Easy access to people, documents, building blocks and more in Google Docs

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: This feature will be ON by default and cannot be disabled by the user. Visit the Help Center to learn more about inserting smart chips & building blocks in your Google Doc.

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Help: Insert smart chips & building blocks in your Google Doc

Record and share your name pronunciation across Google Workspace products

Monday, December 11, 2023

What’s changingFrom your Google account settings, you can now record your name and share its pronunciation with other users. The pronunciation can be played from your profile card across various Google Workspace tools such as Gmail or Google Docs on web or mobile devices. We hope this update makes it easier for you to represent yourself and connect with colleagues in Google Workspace.

When you record and share your name pronunciation, it can be viewed across various Workspace products

Getting started

Admins: This feature will be ON by default and can be turned off at the ___domain, OU, or group level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about allowing Directory users to change their profile and photo.
End users: Visit our Help Center to learn more about changing your Google Account picture, name & other info.

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release ___domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 11, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline Starter, Frontline Standard, and Nonprofits customers
Not available for Google Workspace Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers

Resources

Huddly cameras bring continuous framing to Google Meet Series One room kits

Monday, December 11, 2023

What’s changingAs part of our initiative to bring adaptive framing to Google Meet meeting rooms, we’re proud to announce that you can now access Huddly’s continuous framing capability available as part of the Series One room kit hardware devices. Huddly’s new framing solution continuously adjusts to include participants coming and leaving the room. The feature can be turned on by meeting participants directly from the touch controller. Using Huddly framing helps keep those in the meeting room in view no matter where they are, so that they’re more visible to other participants in the meeting which creates a more engaging experience.

To support this change, we’ve:

Updated the camera control tab on the touch controller to display all the framing options available in your meeting rooms and allow users to toggle between them.
Moved the camera self-view from the manual control component on the touch controller to the TV/monitor display for optimal placement. With meeting spaces becoming more diverse, the display is the most common, accessible interface to all meeting participants.
Changed “home” button in manual control to “Reset to Default”

Select “Camera control” and then “Framing by Huddly” to use this feature.

Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 11, 2023

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers using Google Meet Series One room kits

Learn more

Huddly: Google Meet + Huddly

Resources

Meet Add-ons SDK available in Developer Preview

Monday, December 11, 2023

What’s changing Today, the Google Meet Web Add-ons SDK is available through our Developer Preview Program. Developers can use the SDK to bring their app experience right into Meet. End users can install, open, and collaborate in apps right inside a meeting, either as the meeting focal point, or in the sidebar — all without ever leaving Meet.

Recently, we announced the availability of the Google Meet API through the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program. The Google Meet Add-ons SDK expands on these platform capabilities and allows developers to integrate apps and workflows directly into the Meet UI. There are two ways in which add-ons show up in Meet: the main stage of a meeting or the meeting side panel. The main stage allows apps to be the focal point of a meeting experience, unlocking the opportunity for add-on users to collaborate while in a meeting. The side panel allows users to to share data, take surveys, or update records while staying focused on the discussion in the meeting.

Partners such as Atlassian, Figma, Lucid, Miro, Read.ai, and Polly.ai have already built and launched Meet Add-ons, and we’re excited to see what other apps and workflows developers will build into Meet’s highly-interactive surfaces.

During Developer Public Preview, add-ons can only be deployed within your ___domain and are only accessible when using Google Meet on the web. In the coming months, we will also launch Meet Add-ons SDKs for Android and iOS to expand these capabilities to mobile form factors.

To access the preview SDK, please join the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program.

Who’s impacted

Admins and developers

Why you’d use it

Using the Google Meet Add-Ons SDK, developers can integrate their apps directly in Google Meet. In turn, meeting participants can leverage these apps to collaborate on a whiteboard, brainstorm with the latest design files, and more all without leaving the Meet user interface.

Getting started

End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using add-ons with Google Meet.

Rollout pace

This feature is available now through the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - December 8, 2023

Friday, December 8, 2023

1 New updateUnless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if 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.
Report sharing and comment push notifications for abuse on Android devicesRapid Release and Scheduled Release domainsreporting a violation

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.

Access Google Vault audit logs alongside other Workspace audit logs

We’re excited to announce the general availability of an improved Google Vault audit log experience. As a result of this change, you can now find Vault audit logs in the Admin console alongside other Google Workspace apps like Gmail, Google Drive, and more. | Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus customers or customers with the Vault add-on license only. | Learn more about accessing Vault audit logs.

Solve math equations easily with Smart Compose

We're introducing a new feature that extends the power of Smart Compose to help you solve simple math equations. | Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits only. | Learn more about smart compose for math.

Introducing a redesigned search results page in Google Chat

Chat will now highlight matching keywords in search results and show clear demarcation between results for easier browsing. The highlighted keywords could be an exact match to your search query or terms that are related to your search query. | Learn more about highlighting in Chat.

Admins in Google Vault can now export hyperlinked Google Drive content from Gmail messages

Starting December 8, 2023, admins can export Drive files hyperlinked in Gmail messages directly in Google Vault. | Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus customers or customers with the Vault add-on license only. | Learn more about exporting hyperlinked Drive content.

Set client-side encryption as the default mode for new emails, events, and files

Admins can now set client-side encryption (CSE) to be on by default for: newly created Gmail messages, Google Calendar events, newly created Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files, and newly uploaded Google Drive files. | Google Workspace Assured Controls is available as an add-on to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers only. | Learn more about client-side encryption as the default mode.

New beta to add granular control options for who can respond to Google Forms

With this new option, form creators can limit response access to specific users, groups, or target audiences—similar to how file owners can restrict the sharing of Google Docs, Sheets, Slides or Sites in Drive. | Learn more about Forms controls.

Turn on snippets for additional context surrounding data loss prevention rule violations

Admins can now view “Sensitive Content Snippets” for data loss prevention (DLP) rules. This applies to DLP events for Drive, Chat, and Chrome. When turned on, snippets will log the matched content that triggered a DLP violation in the security investigation tool. | Available to Google Workspace Frontline Standard, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Cloud Identity Premium and BeyondCorp Enterprise customers only. | Learn more about snippets.

Manage conversations by muting notifications in Google Chat

We’re introducing a new mute/unmute option in Google Chat to assist you in prioritizing and managing your messages. | Learn more about muting notifications in Chat.

Updated grace periods for resolving policy violations in managed iOS devices

We’re adjusting a few components to how this grace period operates to boost compliance and prevent inadvertent circumvention. | Available to Google Workspace Frontline Starter and Frontline Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials and Enterprise Essentials Plus and Cloud Identity Premium customers only. | Learn more about policy violations in managed iOS devices.

Additional enhancements to the search results page in Google ChatWe’re introducing condensed versions of your search results to only show the relevant parts of a message that match closest to your search query. By selecting “Show more”, you can view the entire message without the need to open the conversation. | Learn more about search in Chat.

Easily fill in smart chips in Google Docs using placeholder chipsWhen crafting content in Docs, a replaceable chip for people, dates, files, events, and places can be inserted and quickly filled in by collaborators. | Learn more about placeholder chips.

Completed rollouts

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

Scheduled Release Domains:

Add GIFs and stickers in Google Slides
Timeline view in Google Sheets now available on Android & iOS
Raise your hand with gesture detection in Google Meet

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).

Easily fill in smart chips in Google Docs using placeholder chips

Friday, December 8, 2023

What’s changingTo build on our innovations in smart canvas that help you simplify workflows and complete common tasks with easy-to-use prompts in Google Docs, we’re introducing placeholder chips.
When crafting content in Docs, a replaceable chip for people, dates, files, events, and places can be inserted and quickly filled in by collaborators. Upon hovering or clicking on a chip, a search menu opens and includes results filtered to the chip type. Placeholder chips are particularly useful in building blocks, custom building blocks, tables, and more.

Easily fill in smart chips in Google Docs using placeholder chips

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Placeholder chips are only editable on the web, but can be viewed on web and mobile. Visit the Help Center to learn more about inserting smart chips & building blocks in your Google Doc.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 8, 2023

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Help: Insert smart chips & building blocks in your Google Doc

Additional enhancements to the search results page in Google Chat

Friday, December 8, 2023

What’s changingWe recently announced a redesigned search results page in Google Chat that highlights matching keywords in search results and shows clear demarcation between results for easier browsing.
Today, we’re introducing condensed versions of your search results to only show the relevant parts of a message that match closest to your search query. By selecting “Show more”, you can view the entire message without the need to open the conversation.

Who’s impactedEnd users

Why it matters This update enables you to quickly identify the right search result in Chat.

Additional details Search results are based on the exact query, as well as any additional queries that might have been triggered (secondary query, synonyms, spell corrections, etc).

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about searching for Google Chat messages.

Rollout pace

Web:

Mobile:

This feature is available now for all users.

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

eSignature is now generally available for Google Workspace Individual subscribers

Thursday, December 7, 2023

What’s changing Earlier this year, we introduced eSignature for Docs and Drive in beta. Today, eSignature for Docs and Drive is rolling out in general availability for all Workspace Individual customers.

Built directly into Google Docs, eSignature makes it easier for solopreneurs and small businesses to request signatures, keep track of and manage contracts like customer agreements, vendor contracts, stakeholder sign-offs and more. eSignature can be used to:

Request signatures, see the status of pending signatures, and find completed contracts.
Sign official contracts directly within Google Drive, eliminating the need to switch apps or tabs.
Create a copy of any given contract so it can be used as a template to initiate multiple eSignatures requests.

Since the last announcement, we’ve expanded functionality to include the following features:

Audit trail: all completed contracts will automatically contain an audit trail report.
Multi-signer: the ability to request a signature from more than one user.
Non-Gmail users: the ability to request an eSignature from non-Gmail users.
Initiating eSignature on PDF (beta): the ability to initiate an eSignature on PDF files stored in Drive.

We’ll also be introducing more features for eSignature in the next few months, including:

PDF templates: the ability to easily reuse a PDF file as contract templates.
Custom text fields: the ability to ask signers to add relevant information (e.g. job titles, email address) to the contract.

Additional details

Select Google Workspace editions (see the “Availability” section below) can apply to beta test eSignature using this form. We will be accepting beta applications until December 18, 2023.

This feature will be available as part of a larger beta, which includes access to new custom email layouts in Gmail. These new email layouts allow users to customize existing templates, reuse a custom layout in multiple email campaigns, or create a brand new layout from scratch. Once you sign up for the beta you will see the eSignature and new Gmail features in the coming weeks.

Getting started

End users: Workspace Individual subscribers: Visit the Help Center to learn more about sending signature requests & sign documents with eSignature.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 7, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Individual Subscribers
Eligible for beta: Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus and Education Plus

Resources

Custom notifications for Google Chat data loss prevention rules are now generally available

Thursday, December 7, 2023

What’s changing Earlier this year, we announced the beta availability for admins to display custom notifications when a Google Chat message is blocked or intercepted based on data loss prevention rules. Beginning today, this feature will become generally available on web and mobile.

Custom notifications give admins the opportunity to provide their users with more context about why they were blocked from sending a specific message, what they can do to unblock themselves, and include links to additional resources, such as organization guidelines for sensitive data with actionable recommendations. For more information, please reference our original announcement.

Getting started

Admins:

Custom notifications can be set per each data protection rule at the ___domain, Organizational Unit (OU), or group level.
When creating a rule, in Step 4: Actions, under “User Message”, select “customize message”. Custom notifications can also be applied to existing DLP rules. If admins do not customize the notification, the generic notification will be shown to users.
Visit the Help Center to learn more about preventing data leaks from Chat messages & attachments.

End users: There is no end user action required. Depending on your admin settings, you’ll see more detailed information if you’re trying to send a Google Chat message that meets conditions defined in a data loss prevention rule.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) starting on December 7, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Education Plus, and Frontline Standard customers
DLP for Chat is also available to Cloud Identity Premium users who are also licensed for Workspace editions that include Google Chat and Audit and investigation. Visit the Help Center for more information.

Resources

Updated grace periods for resolving policy violations in managed iOS devices

Thursday, December 7, 2023

What’s changing Ensuring only managed applications can access sensitive information is vital to security. Currently, when admins make a policy change that results in an app going from unmanaged to managed, if a policy violation is detected, a 24-hour grace period is given to users to comply with the change. After this grace period, users will lose the ability to access their Google Workspace account.

Moving forward, we’re adjusting a few components to how this grace period operates to boost compliance and prevent inadvertent circumvention. Specifically:

Grace Period

Situation

Next Steps

None

-The managed apps policy violation is detected during the device enrollment.

-The managed apps policy violation by an app is detected after 24 hrs from the moment the admin changes the policy.

Users will be prompted to install the app from the Google Device Policy app for IOS or they will lose access to Google Workspace.

Visit the Help Center to learn more.

24 hours

The managed apps policy violation by an app is detected within the 24hrs from the moment the admin changes the policy.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it’s important

Improving these safeguards helps ensure that only managed applications can access sensitive organization information. If the managed applications do not meet the requirements of the access policies set by admins, managed application access to Workspace data is deactivated until users take the proper steps.

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing mobile apps for your organization.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about managed iOS apps.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now.

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Frontline Starter and Frontline Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials and Enterprise Essentials Plus and Cloud Identity Premium customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Manage mobile apps for your organization
Google Help: iOS App Management

Manage conversations by muting notifications in Google Chat

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

What’s changingWe’re introducing a new mute/unmute option in Google Chat to assist you in prioritizing and managing your messages. This is the latest feature within the recently announced enhanced Chat experience that helps you increase concentration, eliminate distractions and ultimately focus on the most important conversations.
Muted conversations will not send push notifications, will not appear in home, and will also be visually deprioritized by being moved to the bottom of each conversation section. Notification badges will still apply to muted conversations when there are new @ mentions for you or everyone in the conversation.

Who’s impacted End users

Why you’d use it This update is particularly useful for those who feel overwhelmed by numerous, highly active conversations as they now have an option to tune out the extra noise, protect their time for heads-down individual work and focus on the most important communication.

Additional details Unmuting a conversation undoes the visual deprioritization applied to the conversation and the notification settings prior to muting will re-apply to the communication.

Getting started

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

To mute a notification:

Click on the three dot menu in the left hand panel of any conversation
Select mute option
Alternatively open the notification setting of any conversation and check the mute option

To unmute a conversation:

Click on the three dot menu in the left hand panel of any conversation
Select unmute option
Alternatively open the notification setting of any conversation and uncheck the mute option

Visit the Help Center to learn more about muting conversations in Google Chat.

Rollout pace Web:

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 6, 2023
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 18, 2023

Mobile:

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 28, 2023

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Help: Mute conversations in Google Chat

Turn on snippets for additional context surrounding data loss prevention rule violations

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

What’s changing Admins can now view “Sensitive Content Snippets” for data loss prevention (DLP) rules. This applies to DLP events for Drive, Chat, and Chrome. When turned on, snippets will log the matched content that triggered a DLP violation in the security investigation tool. Admins can use the information captured in the snippet to better identify actual security risks, determine whether a false positive was returned, and decide on an appropriate course of action.

Getting started

Admins:

To view snippets in the security investigation tool, select any row from the “Description column” and scroll down to “Sensitive Content Snippets”. Here you’ll see the matched detector ID, the matched content starting character, and the matched content length.

Visit the Help Center to learn more about viewing content snippets that trigger DLP rules, using Workspace DLP to prevent data loss, and the security investigation tool.

End users: There is no end user impact or action required.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 6, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Frontline Standard, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus, and Enterprise Essentials Plus customers
Also available to Cloud Identity Premium and BeyondCorp Enterprise customers

Resources

Useful Links

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In the Google Cloud Community, connect with Googlers and other Google Workspace admins like yourself. Participate in product discussions, check out the Community Articles, and learn tips and tricks that will make your work and life easier. Be the first to know what's happening with Google Workspace.

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Learn about more Google Workspace launches

On the “What’s new in Google Workspace?” Help Center page, learn about new products and features launching in Google Workspace, including smaller changes that haven’t been announced on the Google Workspace Updates blog.

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Updates

Certain Google Meet hardware information will no longer be accessible on the Admin console

New guide to help screen reader users transition from Gmail HTML view to Gmail Standard view

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - December 15, 2023

Use “Profile Discovery” to display basic information only in search results, available in open beta

Introducing the Bitbucket app for Google Chat

Introducing interactive questions for YouTube videos in Google Classroom

Excuse assignments in Google Classroom

Easy access to people, documents, building blocks and more in Google Docs

Record and share your name pronunciation across Google Workspace products

Huddly cameras bring continuous framing to Google Meet Series One room kits

Meet Add-ons SDK available in Developer Preview

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - December 8, 2023

Easily fill in smart chips in Google Docs using placeholder chips

Additional enhancements to the search results page in Google Chat

eSignature is now generally available for Google Workspace Individual subscribers

Custom notifications for Google Chat data loss prevention rules are now generally available

Updated grace periods for resolving policy violations in managed iOS devices

Manage conversations by muting notifications in Google Chat

Turn on snippets for additional context surrounding data loss prevention rule violations

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