Google Workspace Changes

Launch of the Hangouts Meet Starter Kit.

The Hangouts Meet Starter Kit helps organizations migrate to Hangouts Meet by providing customizable email templates, tip sheets with adoption best practices, change management resources, IT Admin Q&A, and printable posters.

Launch of the G Suite Hack training for power users.

G Suite Hack is a training program featuring five challenge tasks that employees can complete at their own pace, providing a fun way to learn advanced G Suite features.

Introduction of the G Suite for Power Users resource page.

A new page has been launched containing resources specifically curated for advanced users to help them get more out of G Suite.

Launch of the G Suite Welcome Center.

The G Suite Welcome Center offers resources and a roadmap for users to get to know G Suite, containing details on the Learning Center, help guides for each app, switching guides, and a Sheets Coursera course.

Rooms and resources in Google Calendar events are now listed in the guest list instead of the location field.

Google Calendar has updated where booked rooms and resources are displayed within an event. This information will now appear in the guest list and will no longer be duplicated in the location field. This change allows users to use the location field exclusively for the geographic address of the event, providing guests with a clearer understanding of where to go.

Turning off less secure app access to G Suite accounts - Impact to Contacts

Limiting the ability for less secure apps (LSAs) to access G Suite account data. If your G Suite account is syncing contacts to iOS or MacOS via CardDAV and uses only a password to login, you’ll need to remove your account. When you add it back, select “sign in with Google” to automatically use OAuth. If your G Suite account is syncing contacts to any other platform or app via CardDAV and uses only a password to login, switch to a method that supports OAuth.

Turning off less secure app access to G Suite accounts - Impact to Calendar

Limiting the ability for less secure apps (LSAs) to access G Suite account data. If you use CalDAV to give an app or device access to your calendar, switch to a method that supports OAuth. We recommend the Google Calendar app [Web/iOS/Android] as the most secure app to use with your G Suite account. If your G Suite account is linked to the calendar app in iOS or MacOS and uses only a password to login, you’ll need to remove and re-add your account to your device. When you add it back, select “sign in with Google” to automatically use OAuth.

Turning off less secure app access to G Suite accounts - Impact to Email

Limiting the ability for less secure apps (LSAs) to access G Suite account data. If you are using stand-alone Outlook 2016 or earlier, you can use G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook. Alternatively, move to Office 365 (or Outlook 2019), which support OAuth access. If you are using Thunderbird or another email client, re-add your Google Account and configure it to use IMAP with OAuth. If you are using the mail app on iOS or MacOS, or Outlook for Mac, and use only a password to login, you’ll need to remove and re-add your account. When you add it back, make sure to choose Google as the account type to automatically use OAuth.

Google is disabling access to less secure apps (LSAs) for G Suite accounts to enhance security.

Google is phasing out support for less secure apps (LSAs), which are non-Google apps that access account data using only a username and password. Starting June 15, 2020, new connections to LSAs will be blocked. By February 15, 2021, all LSA access will be disabled for all G Suite accounts. Users and admins are advised to migrate to apps that support OAuth, a more secure authentication method, to maintain access to email, calendar, and contacts.

Propose a new meeting time or add a note to Calendar invites directly from Gmail.

When opening a Google Calendar invite in Gmail on the web, users will now see a 'More Options' dropdown menu. This menu allows users to propose a new time for the meeting or add a note to their RSVP, which will then open the respective event section in Google Calendar for the user to make the updates directly.

Restrict the use of Drive File Stream to company-owned devices

We gave admins more control over their corporate data by integrating controls for Drive File Stream in Google’s device management interface.

Improved search results in the G Suite Admin console.

Google is updating the search results in the G Suite Admin console to be more helpful. Key improvements include a new results page box with links to the Help Center and FAQs, enhanced readability through updated fonts and spacing, and the continued use of tabs to quickly refine search results by categories such as users, groups, settings, and devices.

Review changes to a Google Site in a side-by-side view before publishing.

Google Sites now allows users to compare the currently published site with the soon-to-be-published draft site using an annotated, side-by-side view. This feature helps collaborators track changes, including who modified pages, added or deleted content, and site-wide updates to themes or navigation, ensuring more confident publishing.

Limited support for Hangouts Meet added for Microsoft Internet Explorer 11.

Google has introduced limited support for Hangouts Meet in Microsoft Internet Explorer 11. To enable this functionality, users are required to download and install the latest version of the Google Video Support Plugin. This update is available to all G Suite editions and is off by default.

New option to restrict security codes to the same device or network they were generated on.

Google is introducing a new security setting for security codes, allowing admins to restrict their use to the same device or local network (NAT or LAN) where they were generated. This reduces potential vulnerabilities while still supporting legacy authentication. Admins can now choose from three options: disabling security codes entirely, allowing them without remote access, or allowing them with remote access for use on other devices or networks.