Collaboration Services News and Updates

Google Feature Updates Overview: April – July 2023

We interrupt your weekly Ramscaping broadcast with April through July’s new Google features blog post, where we’ll discuss the latest new features now available or rolling out to your VCU Google account. Ramscaping will resume on Wednesday!

Since we have so much to cover, we will be using a slightly different format this time and give you the short and sweet summary versions for each feature. Next time, we’ll be returning to our regular format.

All features below are released unless otherwise stated.

Gmail

Better location context for events and RSVPs in Gmail

In Gmail, when accepting an event invitation, the “Yes” option will now automatically use your working location, or you can click the dropdown to specify you’ll be joining a different way.

Negotiate time directly in Gmail to schedule meetings faster

A new tool in Gmail will soon allow you to easily schedule a meeting directly in a message. You will be able to create a new calendar event directly from the message and include it in your message, or offer times you are available that the recipient can choose from.

We anticipate this feature will be fully rolled out by mid-August.

Google Calendar

Making focus time more productive with new Google Calendar setting

When viewing an event in Google Calendar, a new checkbox will appear that, when checked, will automatically put Google Chat notifications on “Do Not Disturb” for the duration of the meeting. 

We anticipate this feature will be fully rolled out by late-July.

Adding more flexibility to working locations in Google Calendar

Multiple working locations can now be set for a given day to allow more flexibility in stating where you will be working throughout the day. 

Additionally, individuals who have been given delegated access to another’s calendar can now modify their working locations, to allow for an assistant or manager, for example, to keep the calendar up to date.

We anticipate this feature will be fully rolled out by late-July.

Google Chat

Communicate better with a modernized Google Chat

The Google Chat interface at chat.google.com has gotten a refreshed look, which uses Google’s “Material Design 3”. The experience of the new look will feel more consistent with the similar refreshments made to Gmail, Google Drive, and the Google Docs editors.

Enabling organizational communication with announcements in Google Chat

When creating a Space in Google Chat, you now will have the option to make the Space an “announcements” Space with the “Only space managers can post” checkbox. Note that a Space created with this option cannot be switched later.

Providing greater visibility with additional Google Calendar statuses in Google Chat

When opening a conversation in Chat, you will now see a status indicating if the individual has an upcoming meeting within the next 10 minutes, how much longer they have left for an event or focus time, and if they have an “out of office” event within the next business day.

Quote a previous message in Google Chat

In a Chat conversation, you will now see the option to quote a previous message in the message you are composing. The quote button will appear when hovering over the previous message you want to quote.

React to messages quickly in Google Chat

Suggested quick emoji reactions will now appear when hovering over a message in Chat. The emojis shown are based on your most frequently used emojis.

Declutter your conversations in Google Chat

Google Chat will now automatically hide conversations and Spaces that haven’t been active within the past 7 days unless they are pinned. The “More” button will reveal those conversations. 

Write messages faster and easier with smart compose in Google Chat

Smart compose is now available in Google Chat, which will provide suggested auto-completions for a message you are typing. To accept a suggestion when it appears, you can hit the TAB or right-arrow key. This feature will automatically be enabled and can be turned off in Chat settings.

See read receipts for messages in Google Chat group direct messages

In a group direct message (1:Many), you will now see read receipts for everyone in the group, similarly to a 1:1 direct message. This works in Groups with 20 or less people, and will not appear in Spaces.

Google Contacts

Contacts delegates can now update labels and manage “Other” contacts

Note: Due to this change granting more access, contact delegates will need to be reapproved by the individual who granted the delegated access. This must be done before the end of July, 2023, or the delegated access will be automatically removed and must be readded later.

Google Docs

Improvements to content organization in Google Docs

There are now more customization options for Tables of Contents in Google Docs. These options include toggling between 3 default styles, toggling page numbers, toggling tab leader styling (adds lines between a heading and the page number), and including and indenting headings based on levels.

Collaborate with others on Google Calendar invites in Google Docs

There is a new building block which allows collaborators to work together on the details of a Google Calendar invite and then send the invite directly from the building block.

Easily expand and collapse content in Google Docs

Headers in Google Docs can now be set by an editor to be collapsible, making it easier for readers to hide content they don’t need to see or have already read. Viewers and commenters or a Doc will be able to use this as well.

Improve time management and display time with new chips in Google Docs

Two time-related smart canvas features have been added in Google Docs. The timer chip allows for setting a timer so that you can track time taken, such as for rehearsing a script or amount of time spent working on the doc. The existing date (e.g. @today) chip also has had the ability to include a time added.

Create custom building blocks in Google Docs

You can now create your own reusable building blocks (in-document templates) in Google Docs, which can greatly reduce the amount of time spent recreating a commonly used outline. These custom building blocks are stored as documents in your Google Drive where they can be further reorganized, edited, or deleted.

Pull rich data from apps directly into Google Docs with third-party smart chips

Third-party smart chips are now available in Docs, which allow you to insert data from applications, such as Atlassian, Figma, Miro, and Tableau.

Gain consensus from collaborators quickly with voting chips in Google Docs

Voting chips in Google Docs makes it simple to gauge a preference among collaborators. Voting is as simple as clicking on the chip after it’s been created.

Improving table placements in Google Docs

A variety of improvements to moving and placing tables in Docs has been added, including being able to drag tables exactly where you want them, setting a fixed position, wrapping content around a table, and providing quick layouts for setting where a table should appear in a Doc. Additionally, compatibility has been added for importing/exporting Google Docs with tables.

Google Drive

Streamlined file organization with the new Google Drive location picker

The location file picker in Google Drive has been greatly improved and streamlined. The file picker appears when moving folders/files from one location to another, or picking the file for use in some cases.

Enhancing spam protection in Google Drive

A new Spam folder has been added in Google Drive, which suspected incoming Spam or Phishing files will automatically land in. Similar to trash, items here will be removed after 30 days.

Find what you need faster with new Google Drive organizational options

When viewing and sorting in Google Drive, you will see new options such as whether to show folders at the top of the files list or mixed in with the files.

Respond to access requests for Google Workspace files more efficiently

Previously requests for access to a document would only be delivered by email. Now, if you are in a document that has an access request, that access request can be approved directly in the document.

Google Meet

Turn off the video feed for select tiles in Meet

You can now turn off the video feed for select tiles in a Google Meet, such as if certain tiles are distracting. This only turns off the video feed from your view. Additionally, on Meet for mobile devices, you can now join a Google Meet in “audio only” mode which turns off video for all participants except for presentations.

Full HD in Google Meet live streams

Google Meet video calls and live-streams can now be viewed in Full HD (1080p).

Co-present Google Slides in Google Meet

In Google Meet, you can now designate a co-presenter during a Google Slides presentation. This will allow the co-presenter to see and use all of the Google Slides controls in the meeting, including navigating the slides and interacting with media within the slides.

Better control the flow of meetings with viewer mode in Google Meet

When creating a calendar event with a Google Meet attached, there is a new option to set everyone as a viewer, which prevents use of video and audio. The host can add co-hosts or the new contributor role for individuals who should be able to turn their video/audio on.

Enhanced experience for picture-in-picture for Google Meet in Chrome

When using Google Meet in Google Chrome (on compatible devices), you can now use “picture-in-picture mode” which pops out a window that stays on top and allows you to perform other actions at the same time, such as raising your hand, resizing the picture-in-picture window, adjust layouts, use in-meeting chat, and turn on/off captions.

Google Meet expands language support for closed captioning and translated captions

Additional languages have been added for Meet’s closed captions and translated captions. Closed captions have added support for French Canadian, Indonesian, Polish, Romanian, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Translated captions have added support for translating from English to Dutch, Indonesian, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Improved experience for admitting or denying join requests in Google Meet

When participants request to join a Google Meet, the experience for admitting and denying join requests has been improved. The dialog that indicates that one or more people are asking to join will now be less intrusive and appear in the bottom right corner, similar to a new Meet chat message.

Use polls or Q&As during Google Meet live streams

Polls and Q&A can now be used with Google Meet live streams.

Quickly access more features during meetings, available for Google Meet on the web

When hovering over your tile in a Google Meet, you will now be able to interact with more features, such as re-centering and setting a virtual blur/background.

Use companion mode to check-in to a Google Meet conference room, so everyone can know you by name

When participating in a Google Meet with remote and in-person attendees in a room with Google Meet hardware, in-person attendees can check into a room using companion mode so that you are listed in the attendees list under the room.

Google Sheets

Introducing additional smart chip functionality in Google Sheets

In Sheets you can now insert YouTube link chips into your spreadsheet. Additionally, you can also now insert multiple chips into the same cell.

Adding new capabilities to timeline view in Google Sheets

The timeline view for Google Sheets has gained additional functionality, including: Enhanced formatting options, including card text truncation and the undo/redo option, a card collapsed view that enables you to merge cards into a single row for each card group, and print and download support.

Introducing new keyboard shortcuts in Google Sheets

New keyboard shortcuts have been added for Google Sheets. A few examples include applying/removing bold formatting, moving to the next Sheet, and displaying the Find and Replace box.

Complete data-driven tasks faster with new smart chip data extraction in Google Sheets

When working with smart chips, there is now an option to perform data extraction on the smart chips to pull information about them (e.g. who owns a file and when it was created, for a file chip). Additionally, you can use an array of similar smart chips within formulas (e.g. =COUNTUNIQUE(B2:B10.owner) for an array of file chips).

Easily convert email addresses and links into smart chips using the tab key in Google Sheets

When working with an array of links in Google Sheets, you can now quickly convert them to smart chips by using the tab key.

Categories Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Chat, Google Contacts, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Feature Updates and Changes, Google Meet, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Workspace News