Google Updates Recap for January 10 to March 4, 2022
In this post, we have some of the latest updates including those for the upcoming Spaces experience in Google Chat and a look at the new design for Gmail for those with Google Chat enabled. We also will be talking about the future of Google Currents regarding an announcement from Google about its sunsetting.
Gmail
New integrated view for Gmail features email, Google Meet, Google Chat, and Spaces in one place
Previously we announced that a new layout for Gmail was upcoming and has now arrived! This new layout makes it easier and more intuitive to access your Gmail, Chat & Spaces, and Google Meet all in one place with a cleaner look. A dialogue box for the new look is already appearing for consumer (personal) Gmail accounts and will soon be available for your VCU Google account! A timeline has been provided by Google for when this layout will become the default and when it will permanently become the standard experience has been provided:
| Beginning February 11, 2022: | Users can opt-in to test the new experience, allowing them to try it out and become more accustomed to it. Users can revert to classic Gmail via settings. |
| By April 2022: | Users who have not opted-in will begin seeing the new experience by default, but can revert to classic Gmail via settings. |
| By the end of June 2022: | This will become the standard experience for Gmail, with no option to revert back.Around the same time, users will also begin seeing the new streamlined navigation experience on Chat web (mail.google.com/chat). Important Note: This also means users will not have the option to configure Chat to display on the right side of Gmail. |
A dialogue allowing you to opt into the new Gmail view will appear in the bottom right corner, with the options to “Try it now” or “Dismiss”
The new layout makes it easy to switch between your inbox, important chat conversations, and join meetings without having to switch between tabs or open new windows. Notification bubbles make it easy to stay on top of what immediately needs your attention. When working in Chat and Spaces, you can view a full list of conversations and Spaces within a single screen, making it easier to navigate to and engage.
When working in your inbox, you’ll be able to view the full array of Mail and Label options currently available in Gmail today.
In the coming months, you will also see email and chat results when using the search bar, making it easier to find what you need by eliminating the need to search within a specific product.
Feature Availability: This feature is currently rolling out and the option to opt in should be available by or shortly after March 15, 2022.
Google Currents
Important: Google Currents is winding down beginning 2023.
Google has announced that with the introduction of Spaces in Google Chat, they will be winding down Google Currents and bringing over remaining content and communities to the new Spaces experience as well as bringing new features to Spaces such as moderation tools, advanced search option, and support for larger communities. Additional news will follow regarding migration of Currents communities to a Space later in 2022. This sunset is expected to begin in 2023, but Google has indicated these rarely used features will be turned down beginning in early 2022:
| Feature | What’s changing |
| Following and follower counts | Due to some inaccuracies with how the following counts are calculated in circles, and because of low use, this feature will be removed. Users will still see a list of accounts that they follow and accounts that follow them. Only the number will be removed. |
| Community insights | Data for community insights will be available through admin reports. However, due to low use, this feature will be turned down for end users. |
| Profile influence | Profile influence has low usage and doesn’t provide clear insight into how a user is performing on Currents. Therefore, this feature will be turned down. |
| Tags | Tag features that are rarely used will be turned down ahead of the migration.The popular tags page will be turned down.Active tags embedded in the All posts stream will be removed.Other features involving tags, such as tag search, following tags, and posting with tags, will not be affected by this change. |
| Mobile notifications | Push notifications on Android and iOS will be disabled. Other notifications, such as email notifications, will not be affected by this change. |
| Post analytics | Post analytics allows users to see post views, comments, likes, and reshares. Due to low usage and to prepare for migration, this feature will be turned down. However, users can still see the comments and number of likes and reshares for their posts. |
Google Docs
Add a page break before paragraphs in Google Docs in mobile
Similarly to the web experience, you can now add page breaks before paragraphs in the Google Docs app on mobile devices.
Feature Availability: This feature is available for all users.
Create or import text watermarks in Google Docs
In addition to creating and importing image watermarks, you can now create and import text watermarks as well. To get started, go to Insert > Watermark > Text.
For more information for watermarks in Google Docs, visit Insert, edit, or delete watermarks
Feature Availability: This feature is available for all users.
New smart canvas features in Google Docs
Two new smart canvas features have been added for Google Docs and are now available to use! These features include Pageless documents, which we mentioned in a previous blog post, and a Summary area which appears in the Document Outline.
The Summary area allows you to provide a summary for your document which appears before your document’s outline, which is defined by headers and bolded text in your document, allowing readers to quickly get an overview of your document. In addition, a summary may be AI generated and suggested for you to use, which you can accept by pressing the Tab key after you initially click on the field. To get started, you can enable the document outline by going to View > Show document outline.
Pageless documents allow for easier collaboration on documents with wider elements, such as large tables and images, and does not include header/footer areas or page breaks. To change your document’s layout to pageless, go to File > Page setup, then click Pageless, then OK to confirm.
Feature Availability: Both features are available for all users.
Feature Availability: This feature is available for all users.
Google Forms
Embed linked Google Forms charts into Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Drawings
You can now embed a chart from Google Forms into a Google Docs, Slides, and Drawings file. The chart will be linked to the original Form and an “Update” button will be available to refresh the chart so that the shown data is up to date without the need to manually replace the image.
Feature Availability: This feature is currently rolling out and is anticipated to be available by or shortly after March 16, 2022.
Google Drive
Search chips in Google Drive help refine search results and surface important files faster
In Google Drive, you can now use search chips to more quickly and easily find what you’re looking for. To get started, first perform a search in the search bar located at the top of Google Drive. Then, use the search chips to narrow down your search results. Some search chips you can use include:
- File type, such as a Google Doc, PDF, or image
- People
- Location, such as a shared drive or specific folder
- When the document was last modified
- File titles only
- Tasks
Additionally, you’ll also notice various other improvements:
- Spelling suggestions along with search chips
- You can clear search chips on their own, or together with the query
- Additional date options for the “Last modified” chip
Google Calendar / Google Tasks
Manage overdue tasks in Google Calendar
Tasks that were not completed when they were due within 30 the past days will now appear as a single all day event on Google Calendar. This list will be a combined list of all overdue tasks and will easily allow for editing or marking for completion.
Feature Availability: This feature is currently rolling out for all users and will be available on both the web and mobile versions of Google Calendar.
The estimated availability dates are:
- Web Version: By March 18, 2022
- iOS: By March 16, 2022
- Android: By March 4, 2022
Google Meet
Live translated captions now available
In Google Meet you can now enable automatic translations for captions. Currently you can live-translate English to French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. This feature will enable Meets to be more inclusive and allow individuals to speak in their preferred language and improve collaboration.
To get started, first make sure both captions and translated captions are enabled in the Google Meet settings and choose what language you would like to translate to under the “Translate to” menu.
You will then see your selected language appear in your Google Meet and you can switch between English and the translated captions:
Feature Availability: This feature is available for all users and is available on both web and mobile versions of Google Meet.
Google Chat
Improved rich text editing experience when sending Chat messages
You can now add formatting to chat messages before you are going to send them. Previously, sending formatted text in chat messages was not fully supported. Now, you can easily add formatting to your text by clicking on the formatting menu button. You can select one or more of the options and begin typing to type with that formatting applied, or select text you’ve already typed and select the formatting you want to apply.
In the windowed view, you can use the standard keyboard shortcuts to apply formatting to text you’ve already typed (Ctrl + B or Cmd + B for bold, Ctrl + I or Cmd + I for italics, and Ctrl + U or Cmd + U for underline.)
On mobile, this is done similarly by selecting the text you want to format and selecting the option to format that appears.
For more information, please see: Add formatting to your Google Chat messages
Feature Availability: This feature is available for all users and is available on both the web and mobile versions of Google Chat and Gmail.
Improved search experience in Google Chat on Web
When using the search bar in Google Chat, you will now be provided with more relevant suggestions giving an easier searching experience. With these changes includes:
- People suggestions based on your chat activity when you click into the search bar.
- Intelligent suggestions for people, spaces and group messages when you begin typing in the search bar.
Feature Availability: This feature is available for all users and is available on the web version of Google Chat (chat.google.com).
Define and manage Chat Spaces, space descriptions, and guidelines with a new “manager” role
In a previous post, we announced that several new features were announced at Google Cloud Next which would come with the transition from “Rooms” to “Spaces.” Now, you can define managers for a Space, set a description, and define guidelines for a Space.
When a Space is initially created, the creator will automatically be a manager of the Space, and they can make additional members of the Space managers from the members list by clicking the triple dot icon located next to the individual’s name, then selecting “Make Space Manager.” Space managers will have an indicator next to their name to show their manager role.
In addition to setting a description at the creation of the Space, managers of a Space can also set or change a Space’s description by selecting the “View space details” option. A Space’s description will appear when looking in the “Browse Spaces” view or when selecting the “View space details” option.
Managers can set a Space’s guidelines to provide rules to abide by to make the Space experience safer for others, if needed.
Feature Availability: This feature is currently rolling out and is expected to be available on the web version of Google Chat by March 23, 2022. Availability on mobile devices is anticipated to be March 14, 2022.
Google Assignments
Originality reports can now be run on Google Slides files
Previously, originality reports could only be run on Google Docs files in Google Assignments. Now, Google Slides files can also have originality reports run on them to check for originality and plagiarism.
For more information about using and getting started with Google Assignments in Canvas, please visit: https://collaborate.vcu.edu/apps/assignments/
Feature Availability: This feature is available for all users.
Categories Gmail, Google Assignments, Google Calendar, Google Chat, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Feature Updates and Changes, Google Forms, Google Meet, Google Tasks and Google Keep, Google Workspace News, Important Changes, Other Google Feature News