Google Workspace Changes

Google Vids now supports styled, animated captions that synchronize with audio and media.

Google Vids has introduced styled, animated captions that synchronize with audio and media elements to improve video comprehension and accessibility. These captions serve as a visual guide for viewers, and users have the ability to edit and correct any spelling or grammar errors within the captions. The feature supports a wide array of global languages.

Google Vids now supports styled, animated captions.

Google Vids, an AI-powered video creation app, now allows users to create styled and animated captions that synchronize with audio and media. These captions enhance video comprehension and viewer tracking, and users can edit them for spelling and grammar errors. This feature aims to help users become better storytellers.

Ask Gemini in Meet is becoming available on the Google Meet mobile app.

Starting in February, users will be able to access Ask Gemini in Meet via the Google Meet mobile app by tapping the Gemini icon in the top right corner during a meeting.

Ask Gemini in Meet is adding support for seven additional languages.

Beginning in early February, Ask Gemini in Meet will expand its language support beyond English to include French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. The feature currently supports one language per meeting.

Ask Gemini in Meet is expanding to Workspace Business Standard customers.

The Ask Gemini in Meet feature, which allows users to get meeting briefs and list key takeaways, is expanding from Enterprise customers to include Workspace Business Standard domains starting in late January.

Introduction of granular OAuth consent for all Google Chat apps using Apps Script, allowing users to choose specific data access.

Google is introducing granular OAuth consent for all types of Google Chat apps that use Apps Script, expanding upon a previously announced feature. This enhancement allows users to have more control over their data by enabling them to select the specific data an app can access when requesting OAuth scope grants. This change is particularly relevant for new OAuth scope grants, as pre-existing grants will remain unaffected. Developers are advised to review the updated documentation for handling these granular permissions.

Granular OAuth consent is now available for all Google Chat apps built using Apps Script.

Google is expanding granular OAuth consent to all types of Chat apps developed with Apps Script, moving beyond just Workspace add-ons. This update allows users to choose the specific data an app is permitted to access when granting new OAuth scope permissions, providing more control over data privacy. Pre-existing scope grants remain unaffected.

Google Meet hardware now includes a 'Reboot when idle' option for administrators.

Administrators can now choose to reboot Google Meet hardware devices only when they are idle, preventing disruptions to ongoing meetings, presentations, or add-on activities. This adds a 'Reboot when idle' option alongside the existing 'Reboot now' force-restart capability in the Admin console, allowing the system to intelligently wait for device inactivity before initiating a restart.

Admins can now choose to wait for device inactivity before rebooting Google Meet hardware.

Google Meet hardware devices can now be rebooted by administrators with more flexibility. A new "Reboot when idle" option allows administrators to queue a reboot to occur only when all user activity has ceased, avoiding interruptions to ongoing meetings or device usage. Previously, only an immediate reboot was possible, requiring careful timing. This enhancement provides two reboot options: "Reboot when the device becomes idle" and "Reboot now, even if the device is in use."

Users can now forward messages in Google Chat.

Google Chat is introducing a new feature that allows users to forward messages directly within conversations, eliminating the need for manual workarounds like copying and pasting. This enhances team collaboration by simplifying sharing, preserving context with original sender and attachments, and improving visibility by allowing messages from threads to be moved to the main stream. While there are some limitations regarding forwarding between internal and external organizational conversations, a reminder for sensitive information will appear when forwarding from DMs or group DMs.

Google Meet usage metrics are now available in the Gemini reports dashboard.

Administrators can now access usage metrics for Google Meet within the organization-level Gemini reports dashboard in the 'Gemini usage per interaction' section. The reported metrics include the number of times Gemini was actively used in meetings (such as 'Take notes for me' or 'Ask Gemini in Meet') and the number of unique users who actively used Gemini in meetings. This update also improves the accuracy of active usage metrics for Google Meet.

Google Chat introduces the ability to forward messages across different conversations.

Google Chat is introducing a new feature that allows users to forward messages between direct messages and spaces, eliminating the need for copying and pasting or using screenshots. Forwarded messages preserve the original sender, source, and attachments, and can be moved from threads into the main conversation stream. While there are restrictions on forwarding between internal and external organizations, users can forward messages from external conversations to internal ones. A security reminder appears when forwarding from DMs to protect sensitive information.

All secondary calendars owned by a user will be automatically displayed in their Google Calendar list.

Following previous improvements in secondary calendar management, all secondary calendars owned by a user will now be consistently displayed in their Google Calendar list, visible in Calendar settings. This change ensures owners have direct access to manage settings, sharing permissions, and the lifecycle of these calendars. Users can still pin calendars to their main view, delete them, or transfer ownership. A recommendation is to limit ownership to a maximum of 100 calendars per user, with gradual addition for those exceeding this. Users of Apple Calendar may need to manually sync.

Owned secondary calendars are now automatically added to the user's calendar list.

Google Calendar is updating to ensure that all secondary calendars owned by a user are consistently displayed in their calendar list within the settings page. This change provides owners with direct access to manage settings, sharing permissions, and the lifecycle of the calendars they are responsible for. To maintain stability, Google recommends a limit of 100 owned calendars per user. Users integrating with Apple Calendar may need to manually enable synchronization for these calendars.

Flow, an AI-powered filmmaking tool, is now available as an additional Google service for Workspace customers.

Flow is an AI-powered filmmaking tool, built for creatives to transform simple ideas into high-definition videos within minutes. It is now available as an additional Google service with granular admin controls, allowing admins to enable specific users to leverage Flow's capabilities while managing data and access according to organizational needs. Users can turn natural language prompts into cinematic scenes and accelerate video production.