Google Workspace Changes

Expanded access to several AI features in Google Vids for Education Plus and Teaching & Learning add-on users.

Google Vids has expanded access to several AI features for users with an Education Plus or Teaching & Learning add-on license, available for a limited time through May 31st, 2026. These features include read-along mode in the teleprompter, AI voice overs, text-to-image generation, AI-powered image editing for background replacement/expansion, a "Help me create" tool for video story planning, and transcript trim. This enables educators and students to generate custom images and video clips, add professional touches, and use preset voiceovers for narration.

AI-powered app summaries, generated by Gemini, are now available in the AppSheet Admin Console for Enterprise Plus users to quickly understand app purpose and capabilities.

Admins with AppSheet Enterprise Plus licenses can now leverage Gemini to generate summaries of apps owned by their organization directly within the AppSheet Admin Console. This feature is designed to help admins quickly understand the purpose and capabilities of any AppSheet application, addressing the challenge of managing a large number of apps. The summary is generated upon expanding the 'App summary generated by Gemini' section and remains until a new version of the app is saved by the creator. This enhancement aims to save valuable time and improve governance oversight by providing quick insights into app functionalities.

Sender avatars now available in Gmail notifications on iOS devices.

Sender avatars are now displayed on iOS devices within Gmail notifications, allowing users to quickly identify important senders and prioritize emails by providing a visual cue of the sender's picture.

New "Mark as Read" feature directly from Gmail notifications on Android.

Users can now directly use the "Mark as Read" feature on their Android devices to clear notifications, making email management quicker and easier on mobile.

The "Editors can change permissions and share" setting in Google Drive will be updated, affecting how changes to containing shared folders apply to items with this setting off.

Starting September 22, 2025, if the "Editors can change permissions and share" setting is off, and an item's owner places it in a shared folder, any changes to the shared folder's access will apply to the item. Previously, this only occurred if the item's owner made the folder access change. Additionally, starting October 8, 2025, limited access will be applied to pre-existing items with this setting turned off, meaning only the owner can share them. This limited access will not apply to items with the setting turned off after October 8, 2025.

Google Drive will no longer allow restricted access on specific files/folders within a shared folder, requiring consistent management via limited access folder setting.

Previously, users could restrict access to individual files or folders inside a shared folder. Starting September 22, 2025, this will no longer be possible. Access must be managed consistently at the shared folder level using the limited access folder setting. Users with permission to restrict access on the parent folder will no longer see the “update item only” option, and users without this permission will have certain options grayed out.

Google Forms now proactively provides Gemini-generated summaries for short-answer and paragraph questions when reviewing responses.

Previously, users could request Gemini to summarize specific responses in Google Forms. With this update, users will automatically see proactive Gemini-generated insights and summaries for short-answer or paragraph questions directly within the 'Responses' tab of a form. This feature is designed to help users quickly understand sentiment, analyze feedback, and gain insights from forms without needing to manually review extensive text. The feature will be on by default for eligible users and can be managed by admins.

Users can now share custom Gems created in the Gemini app, with admin controls for sharing settings.

This launch introduces the ability to share Gems, which are customizable versions of Gemini that users can personalize to be experts on any topic. Once shared, other users can edit, use, or make a copy of the Gem. Gems sharing is powered by the same technology as Google Drive, offering a familiar interface. Admins can control Gem sharing using a new Admin console setting under Generative AI > Gemini app > Gems, with the feature being ON by default.

Admins can pre-configure access settings for Gemini in Chrome ahead of its general availability.

Google is rolling out Gemini in Chrome, an AI browsing assistant for Mac and Windows, to all Google Workspace users with access to the Gemini app. This feature enables users to leverage Gemini for answers, insights, and conversations within their browser. Ahead of its general availability, administrators can manage user access to Gemini in Chrome via new Chrome Gemini Settings and the existing Gemini app service setting. Important compliance certifications for Gemini in Chrome differ from the Gemini app.

The 'Manage Google Meet hardware and calendars' privilege will no longer grant broad access to all organizational calendars.

To enhance security and clarity, the 'Manage Google Meet hardware and calendars' privilege will cease to provide full read/write access to all Google Calendars across the organization, effective October 15, 2025. This update ensures that administrators solely responsible for Meet hardware management will not automatically have access to sensitive calendar data. While the privilege will still enable assigning calendars to Meet hardware devices, any admins requiring the previous level of calendar control must be separately granted the 'Manage Calendars' privilege before the specified date.

Ask Gemini in Meet provides a personal meeting assistant to summarize discussions, identify action items, and catch up on missed content.

Ask Gemini in Meet is being introduced for select Google Workspace customers to enhance the meeting experience. This feature allows users to summarize ongoing discussions, identify key takeaways and action items, and catch up on content if they joined late (provided "Take Notes for Me" was enabled). User interactions with Ask Gemini are private, and it generates insights using meeting captions, Google Workspace resources, and Google search. No meeting data is stored after the meeting ends. The feature is initially available on desktop, supports English, and will not be available in breakout rooms. Admins have controls to manage access, and meeting hosts can disable it for participants.

Quizzes in the Gemini app are now available to under-18 users.

This update expands the availability of the quiz generation feature in the Gemini app to users under 18 years of age. Previously, users could create quizzes using Canvas in the Gemini app by uploading documents or providing prompts. With this change, students can now create their own quizzes to prepare for exams, and educators can create and share quizzes with their classes. There are no admin controls for Canvas, and the feature is on by default for end users.

Google Meet links will now be added to the location field for invitations sent to users of other calendar apps (e.g., Outlook), and Google Calendar will detect Meet links from external invitations.

With this update, Google Meet links will automatically appear in the location field when a Google Calendar user invites someone using a different calendar application, such as Microsoft Outlook. This change aims to simplify joining Meet conferences for external users by ensuring the link is easily visible and not overlooked in event details. Additionally, Google Calendar will now intelligently detect Google Meet links embedded in the description or location fields of invitations received from other calendar apps, further enhancing the ease of joining meetings and fostering seamless collaboration across different platforms.

Google Chat apps will now automatically install into future conversations after initial user installation, removing the need for manual re-installation.

Google Chat is introducing a new feature that will automatically add Chat apps to future conversations once they have been installed by a user. Previously, users were required to manually install a Chat app into every space, group chat, and direct message. This update streamlines the process, allowing users to initiate actions with an app, such as creating a poll, and have the app automatically available in subsequent conversations without needing to reinstall it. Admins can still control app installation permissions and can also choose to pre-install apps for their organization.

When duplicating Google Calendar events, the associated Google Meet conference will no longer be copied to enhance meeting privacy.

To enhance meeting privacy, when users copy or duplicate events in Google Calendar, the associated Google Meet conference will no longer be automatically copied. This ensures that Meet access and any meeting notes remain exclusively tied to the original event and its attendees. If a user wishes to participate in the same Meet conference for the duplicated event, they will need to manually copy the Meet code separately. This change also improves security and reliability by keeping the meeting code unique to the original event, reducing ambiguity and ensuring information is shared only with correct participants.