Google Workspace Changes

A new video player experience is now available in Google Drive on Android devices.

The modern and smoother video player previously rolled out for the Google Drive web experience is now available on Android devices. This update provides an improved visual and functional experience when watching videos stored in Google Drive on mobile devices.

Deprecation of custom roles for managing and viewing members and the 'Entire organization' setting for member management in Google Groups.

Google Groups is deprecating custom roles for 'Who can manage members' and 'Who can view members' permissions, aiming to reduce complexity and increase consistency across Workspace products. Additionally, the ability to set 'Who can manage members' to 'Entire organization' will no longer be supported. Starting September 15, 2025, users will be unable to add new custom roles for these permissions or set 'Who can manage members' to 'Entire organization'. By January 5, 2026, existing custom roles for these permissions will no longer apply, and groups with 'Who can manage members' set to 'Entire organization' will have this updated to 'all members'. Admins and group owners are advised to review and adjust group settings.

Gemini in Google Sheets now supports more languages.

Gemini in Google Sheets can now provide insights and generate charts based on data in Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, French, and German. This allows users to analyze data and identify trends without writing code.

Introducing the Comeen Workplace AI Agent for the Comeen Google Chat app.

The Comeen Workplace AI Agent, a third-party app for Google Chat, uses generative AI to help users manage workplace resources like booking meeting rooms and desks, and answer workplace-related questions. Users can book spaces, and ask questions about their workspace. Admins need to allowlist the Comeen for Google Chat app, and end users will need a Comeen license.

Meeting hosts can control who requests to join meetings ("knocking").

Meeting hosts gain control over who can request to join meetings when the meeting access type is "Trusted" or "Restricted". This is configured via the Calendar invite (Video call options > Host controls) or during the meeting (Host controls). This feature enhances meeting security and minimizes disruptions.

Gemini in Google Forms now helps users create a draft form by entering a prompt.

Google Forms now includes a "Help me create" feature powered by Gemini. Users can input a prompt describing the form they need, or reference supporting documents (Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs), and Gemini will generate a draft form. Users can then customize the generated form. This feature is designed to accelerate form creation and save time.

Gemini in Google Forms to summarize responses.

Google Forms is getting a new feature to summarize responses using Gemini. The summarization will be generated from short-answer or paragraph questions, and will use the context of the form title, description, question, and the responses to generate a summary with key themes and takeaways.

Gemini will summarize Google Forms responses.

Gemini is expanding to Google Forms to summarize responses to short-answer or paragraph questions. This feature uses the form title, description, questions, and responses to generate a summary. Users can then copy the summary for use in other applications. This feature is only available in English.

Generate 8-second video clips with higher quality and realistic sound using Veo 3 in Google Vids.

Google Vids now integrates Veo 3, enabling users to create 8-second videos with improved quality and sound. Users can access Veo 3 via the "Generate video" option in the Vids editor. This allows users to add generated content directly into their Vids. Examples include safety training, product demos, and employee announcements.

Arabic and Urdu are now available when using Read Along in Google Classroom.

Students can now read books in Arabic and Urdu with Diya's help. Teachers can assign books in Arabic and Urdu. Teachers can create books in Arabic and Urdu and assign them to students.

Users can now mark threads as unread in spaces in Google Chat.

Users currently have the ability to mark messages as unread in the main conversation stream of Google Chat. This feature is now available for threads in spaces. As a result, users can return to threads when it's convenient for them and more efficiently stay on top of their messages.

Users can now present content directly from their camera feed in Google Meet.

Google Meet is introducing a new feature that allows users to present content directly from their camera feed during meetings. This enhancement supports various use cases, including streaming produced video content, sharing live feeds from external video sources like microscopes or cameras, and educators presenting paper content via document cameras. The feature supports up to 1080p/30FPS. Furthermore, improvements to screen sharing include faster initiation, sharper video quality, automatic resumption of presentations when a second presenter stops sharing, and a more intuitive user interface for the screen sharing button.

Introducing "Catch me up," a new feature in Google Drive powered by Gemini that provides a summary of changes in files.

"Catch me up" helps users quickly understand changes to their files in Google Drive. Gemini identifies relevant files with recent changes and offers an overview of edits in Docs, and comments in Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The feature is available in English and is accessible via the "Catch me up" nudge in Google Drive Home or by selecting "catch me up" for specific files.

Existing custom roles and "Entire organization" setting for managing Google Groups members will no longer apply.

Starting January 5, 2026, existing custom roles configured for "Who can manage members" and "Who can view members" in Google Groups will no longer be active. Additionally, if "Who can manage members" is currently set to "Entire organization", this setting will automatically update to "all members". Administrators and group owners are advised to review and adjust their group settings, reassigning affected users to default roles that align with their permissions, such as managers or owners, or expanding member management capabilities to all group members.

Upcoming changes to permissions for managing and viewing custom roles in Google Groups, deprecating specific custom role capabilities and the "Entire organization" setting for member management.

Google Groups is undergoing changes to its permissions system, specifically impacting "Who can manage members" and "Who can view members" settings. Starting September 15, 2025, the ability to add new custom roles for these permissions will be removed, and setting "Who can manage members" to "Entire organization" will no longer be supported. By January 5, 2026, any existing custom roles for these permissions will cease to apply, and groups with "Who can manage members" set to "Entire organization" will have this setting automatically updated to "all members". This aims to reduce complexity and increase consistency across Workspace products.