Google Workspace Updates

Introducing the new Calendar Resource API

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Originally Posted on Google Apps Developers blog

Posted by Muzammil Esmail, Product Manager, Google for Work and Wesley Chun, Developer Advocate, Google Apps

Over the years, we’ve been updating our APIs with new versions across Drive and Calendar, as well as those used for managing Google Apps for Work domains. These new services offer developers improvements over previous functionality and introduces new features that help Apps administrators better manage their domains.

To deliver even more granular control, today we are announcing the new Calendar Resource API as part of the Admin SDK’s Directory API that enables Google for Work customers to manage their physical resources, like conference rooms, printers, nap pods, tennis courts, walkstations, etc. These physical resources can be added to meetings by end users as needed. The API released today replaces the GDATA Calendar Resource API, so we encourage developers to begin moving their applications and tools to the new API. Please note that we will begin deprecation in January 2016 and sunset the existing API in January 2017. Stay tuned for a formal deprecation announcement with details.

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Use templates to create files in the Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides mobile apps

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Focus on your content, not your formatting. Check out the Help Center article below for more information on getting started with templates.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Templates allow you to quickly and easily create files with specific purposes—for instance, you can pull together a project proposal in Google Docs, an invoice in Google Sheets, or a case study in Google Slides without spending unnecessary time or resources on formatting. In September, we launched templates in Docs, Sheets, and Slides on the web; today, we’re rolling out that same functionality for their corresponding Android and iOS apps.

Starting now, when you go to create a new document, spreadsheet, or presentation on your Android or iOS device (by clicking the red “+” button in the bottom right corner of your screen), you’ll be given the option to choose a template. These templates will be the same as those available to you in Docs, Sheets, and Slides on the web, including a meeting agenda, pitch deck, expense report, and more.

Simplified email routing settings in the Google Apps Admin console

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

This new Routing section will consolidate the following existing settings into one location, making them easier to manage: Sending routing, Receiving routing, Outbound gateway, Default routing, and Email routing. The new Routing settings will coexist with your existing routing settings for the short term, and any routing policies previously set will not be impacted.

In the future, we’ll further improve the email routing experience by migrating and consolidating additional existing settings into the new centralized location. Stay tuned for more information on these plans.

Admins creating new email routing policies are encouraged to use the new Routing settings for enhanced functionality. In addition to being easier to use, the new Routing settings will apply to SMTP-relayed messages as well as messages sent to email groups. These features are not available using the previous settings.

Check out the Help Center for more details on the new Routing settings.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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The email routing settings in the Admin console allow Google Apps admins to set up default mail routing options across their domain, or for specific organizational units. For example, you may want to route certain incoming mail to different server locations or recipients based on the nature of its content, or require that outbound mail pass through a gateway before being sent for greater security.

These settings provide admins with a high level of granular control, but we realized that they can be complicated to find and use in their current structure in the Admin console. That’s why with today’s launch, we’re taking the first step towards significantly simplifying the experience for email routing settings by adding a new section called Routing under Gmail > Advanced settings > General settings.

View functions in Google Sheets in your preferred language

Monday, December 14, 2015

Employees across the world use Google Sheets. Starting today, any user whose preferred language is set to English or one of 21 additional, supported languages will see functions in Sheets on the web and mobile in that preferred language. (Please note that some specific functions will continue to appear in English only—even if the user’s preferred language is supported.)
Localized Functions.png

Following this launch, new Sheets users will see functions in their preferred language if that language is supported. Any existing Sheets user whose preferred language is supported will be given an option in Sheets on the web to keep their functions in English or to show them in their preferred language. If they choose the latter, they can switch back to English at any time by selecting Always use English function names under Spreadsheet settings in the File menu.
Localized Functions 2.png

Check out the Change a spreadsheet's locale, time zone, recalculation, and language Help Center article for a list of supported languages, as well as the additional articles below for more information.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming on January 11th, 2016

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Change a spreadsheet's locale, time zone, recalculation, and language
Help Center: Change language in My Account
Help Center: Functions and formulas in Sheets

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Certificate Enrollment for Chrome OS

Monday, December 14, 2015

This new extension allows users to easily request a certificate for their managed Chromebooks to access enterprise-protected networks and resources. It also allows admins to scale their Chromebook rollouts by automating the Active Directory certificate enrollment process via Google's Admin console.

Check out the Help Center for minimum requirements and deployment guidelines.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Today we are announcing the Certificate Enrollment for Chrome OS extension, providing an out-of-the-box certificate enrollment experience for Chromebooks in enterprises with a deployment of Microsoft Public Key Infrastructure based off of Active Directory.

Easier account syncing with the latest version of the Google Calendar app for Android

Thursday, December 10, 2015

When you’re on the go, you need your calendar events to be up to date. Now, the latest version of the Google Calendar app for Android makes it easy for you to see whether your accounts are properly syncing, and quickly fix them if they aren't.

If sync is turned off for any of your accounts, you'll see the message “Enable sync” in the left side Menu. When you see this message, click on your account's email address to turn sync back on.

If you're still having problems syncing your events, check out the sync troubleshooting help page.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center
Get the Google Calendar Android app on Google Play

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Update: Increased account security via OAuth2 token revocation

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Last week, we announced that a recent change has been made to our security policy, whereby OAuth2 tokens issued for access to certain products will now be revoked when a user's password is changed.

We’ve received questions from Apps customers on the implications of this policy change for which we’d like to provide thoughtful responses in advance of the full rollout. As a result, and given the approaching holiday season, we have decided to delay the full rollout of this policy change until early 2016.

Please monitor the launch release calendar for the new launch date* and stay tuned for additional communication and answers to frequently asked questions.

*Note: this launch was cancelled for Google Apps customers in Feb 2016. A revised launch was announced on Sept 21, 2016.

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Better search experience in Google Drive

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Several behind-the-scenes improvements give your search queries even better results than they did before. And to get more specific results, anyone can now do the following:

Search for shared files by file owner using their name or email address.
Use advanced search options like the date a file was modified, words it contains, or who it was shared with.

This is all part of an ongoing effort to make Drive the easiest place to find your files. See below for the specific rollout details.

Launch Details
Release track:
- Android and iOS features launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release
- Web changes launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in early January (monitor the launch calendar for specific date)

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
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When you store important files in Google Drive they’re not only safe, they’re accessible from any device. Finding these files again from any device should be super easy, so we’re rolling out a new search experience to get you better results — even faster.

Drive lets you search across all your files, regardless of the device they came from. To make that easier, you can use these new ways to find your files:

Narrow your search to a file type from the search box on Android, iOS, and the web.
Open advanced search instantly from the search box.
Access recent files or search Drive from the home screen using 3D Touch on iOS.
Search Drive using the iOS search bar without opening the Drive app.

Several behind-the-scenes improvements give your search queries even better results than they did before. And to get more specific results, anyone can now do the following:

Search for shared files by file owner using their name or email address.
Use advanced search options like the date a file was modified, words it contains, or who it was shared with.

Keeping data secure with Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Gmail

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Check out the DLP whitepaper for more information, including the full list of predefined content creators, and get started. Gmail DLP is the first step in a long term investment to bring rule-based security across Google Apps. We’re working on bringing DLP to Google Drive early next year, along with other rule-based security systems.

Note: this feature is available for Google Apps for Work Unlimited customers only.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center

Every company has data that it must keep secure — whether that data is about confidential innovations, strategic plans, or sensitive HR issues. Keeping all of this data safe from inadvertent or purposeful leaks needs to be simple, quick, and reliable. Google for Work already helps admins manage information security with tools such as encryption, sharing controls, mobile device management, and two-factor authentication. However, sometimes user actions compromise the best of all of these controls; for example, a user might hit “Reply all” when meaning to send a private message with sensitive content.

Starting today, if you’re a Google Apps Unlimited customer, Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Gmail will add another layer of protection to prevent sensitive information from being revealed to those who shouldn’t have it.

How Gmail DLP works
Organizations may have a policy that the Sales department should not share customer credit cards externally. To keep this information safe, admins can now easily set up a DLP policy by selecting “Credit Card Numbers” from a library of predefined content detectors. Gmail DLP will automatically check all outgoing emails from the Sales department and take action based on what the admin has specified: either quarantine the email for review, tell users to modify the information, or block the email from being sent and notify the sender.

These checks don’t just apply to email text, but also to content inside common attachment types―such as documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. Admins can also create custom rules with keywords and regular expressions. So if there’s a confidential new product your company is building codenamed Lochness, admins can create custom checks for lochness, confidential, and other keywords to help deter any leaks.

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In the Google Cloud Community, connect with Googlers and other Google Workspace admins like yourself. Participate in product discussions, check out the Community Articles, and learn tips and tricks that will make your work and life easier. Be the first to know what's happening with Google Workspace.

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Learn about more Google Workspace launches

On the “What’s new in Google Workspace?” Help Center page, learn about new products and features launching in Google Workspace, including smaller changes that haven’t been announced on the Google Workspace Updates blog.

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Updates

Clean up of ‘Additional Google services’ section in Google Apps Admin console

Introducing the new Calendar Resource API

Use templates to create files in the Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides mobile apps

Simplified email routing settings in the Google Apps Admin console

View functions in Google Sheets in your preferred language

Certificate Enrollment for Chrome OS

Easier account syncing with the latest version of the Google Calendar app for Android

Update: Increased account security via OAuth2 token revocation

Better search experience in Google Drive

Keeping data secure with Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Gmail

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