Google Workspace Changes

Mobile scans are now crisper and clearer with auto enhancements in the Google Drive scanner

The Google Drive document scanner on Android devices now includes auto enhancement to digitize paper documents into higher quality images more quickly. This feature performs actions such as white balance correction, shadow removal, contrast enrichment, auto sharpening, and light improvement.

Use the GitHub app in Google Chat to get notifications about GitHub events

Google Chat has updated its integration with GitHub, allowing users to receive streamlined notification cards for issues, pull requests, and comments. The update includes enhanced repository and pull request subscription options, richer link previews, and the ability to configure multiple repositories within a single space.

new roles of Groups Editor and Groups Reader offer delegated admin permissions for groups

The new roles of Groups Editor and Groups Reader offer delegated admin permissions for groups, and can use conditions to limit access to sensitive groups as needed.

new, information-rich usage reports to help Workspace administrators understand how their teams are using Google Chat

The updated reporting aligns trackable metrics with the current Chat experience and provides essential data for analyzing and driving adoption, configuring safety features, and more.

when mentioning a user that is not already in the conversation, you will have the option to add them and send the message, or just send the message without adding them

Starting today, when mentioning a user that is not already in the conversation, you will have the option to add them and send the message, or just send the message without adding them.

Improvements to @mentions in Google Chat, including optional member addition and smart chip rendering.

Google Chat is updating @mentions to allow users to reference people without necessarily adding them to the conversation. When mentioning a user not already present, users can now choose to either add them and send the message or send the message as a reference only. Additionally, @mentions are now rendered as smart chips for visual consistency across Workspace; on the web, these chips allow users to hover for more information or click to start a 1:1 direct message.

you can now focus your Gemini conversations in Drive to a specific Drive folder using the side panel.

you can now focus your Gemini conversations in Drive to a specific Drive folder using the side panel. For example, after indicating a specific folder via an @-mention, you can ask Gemini to find files in the folder or write a summary of the folder’s content.

Gemini in the Google Drive side panel now supports focusing conversations on specific folders.

Users can now focus their Gemini conversations in the Google Drive side panel on a specific folder to find files or summarize content. This can be achieved by @-mentioning a folder, dragging and dropping a folder into the side panel, or using the 'Summarize this folder' and 'Ask Gemini' options from the context menu or selection toolbar. Gemini supports analyzing text documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, and presentations within these folders.

Admins can now lock Google Groups to prevent sensitive changes to group attributes and memberships.

Google is introducing a 'Locked' label for Google Groups in open beta, allowing administrators to restrict modifications to group names, email addresses, and memberships. This feature is designed to help admins who sync groups from external identity systems, such as Entra ID, to prevent synchronization inconsistencies. When a group is locked, only Super Admins, Group Admins, and specific Group Editors can modify key attributes, while access and content moderation settings remain unaffected.

Admins can now label a Google Group as “Locked,” which will heavily restrict changes to group attributes and memberships.

Admins can now label a Google Group as “Locked,” which will heavily restrict changes to group attributes (such as group name & email address) and memberships. This will help admins who sync their groups from an external source and want to prevent getting out of sync, or who want to restrict changes to sensitive groups.

Introduction of 'Help me create' in Google Docs to build structured, stylized documents using Gemini.

Google is introducing 'Help me create', a new feature in Google Docs that allows users to generate full, visually-appealing documents from a single custom prompt. By using the '@ filename' syntax, users can pull content from their Google Drive files to create long-form documents that include cover images, in-line images, stylized text, and tables. The feature is currently available in English and supported on pageless documents.

Developers can now create and manage assignment rubrics using the Google Classroom API.

The Google Classroom API now enables third-party developers to read and write assignment rubrics and access student submission scores broken down by specific rubric criteria. This update allows developers to manage rubrics at scale on behalf of teachers and provides more holistic insights into student performance. Additionally, the Eligibility API has been extended to help developers identify users who can utilize these new rubrics endpoints.

Easier discovery and installation of Google Workspace Marketplace apps in Google Docs.

When users add a link into a Google Doc that is supported by select Marketplace apps, they will now be prompted to install the relevant add-on. Once installed, users can replace the link with a third-party smart chip and preview app information by hovering over the chip.

Improved accessibility tagging for PDFs exported from Google Docs.

Google is adding more structural and accessibility tagging to PDFs exported from Google Docs to improve navigation for users with screen readers and other assistive technology. Specifically, tagging has been improved for paragraphs, headings, hyperlinks, image alt text, and lists.

Out of office notifications extended to group messages and spaces.

The out-of-office banner, which shows a user's status and return date, is now available in group direct messages and spaces. For groups or spaces with more than 6 users, the out-of-office status will only be displayed if the user is @mentioned.