About Translation

UK USA Europe Rest of World Basket 0
UK USA Europe Rest of World Basket 0

June 2024: Google Meet and Google Workspace Update Recap

June saw some great additions to Google Meet and Google Workspace, such as captions and translated captions expanding to many more languages in Meet, an increased member capacity in Chat spaces and the rollout of the Gemini side panel across Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides.

Join us as we take a closer look at these features along with all of the other latest and greatest platform updates from last month.

Google Meet Platform Updates

A screenshot of a user’s Google Meet call on the web. The user is presenting a Google Docs file into the call. There is a pop-up which reads “Try scrolling and zooming. You can scroll and zoom the tab you’re presenting directly in Meet”.

In early June, a new feature was introduced in Google Meet that lets you 🖱 scroll and 🔎 zoom in and out of your presented content directly from the meeting window. This eliminates the need to switch back and forth between tabs, allowing you to control the view of your content whilst still being able to see and interact with your audience.

Shortly after, Google announced a ✨ visual refresh for the meeting controls at the bottom of a Google Meet call. The modernised design will feature updated colours and dynamic shapes, making it easier to identify your mute status and active controls at a glance. You’ll see the new design when using Google Meet on web, in picture-in-picture mode, within Docs or Slides, during livestreams and on Google Meet Hardware.

June also saw the rollout of two enhancements in Google Meet to improve the viewing experience. Specifically, 🎥 meeting recordings now capture speaker video feeds in 1080p resolution whilst more participants can send 1080p video from their cameras in meetings.

Support for captions – and translated captions – significantly expanded in Google Meet last month. There are now 11 more languages for closed captions and 52 new languages for translated captions, for a total of 87 and 69 respectively, making meetings even more accessible and inclusive. In the same update, Google also confirmed the date (January 2025) that, as previously announced, translated captions will become exclusively available to select Gemini add-ons.

Google Meet add-ons made their debut on Android devices. This means you can find, install and use compatible applications to make your meetings more interactive and engaging directly within the Google Meet app on your mobile device. Similar to how add-ons work on the web, you’ll find them in the “Activities” panel in the app alongside familiar features like 🗳 polls and❓Q&As.

For Google Meet Hardware, the update introducing support for 📸🖼 camera framing controls on the Board 65, Desk 27 and devices with remote controls resumed rollout after a brief pause in May.

Google Workspace Platform Updates

Google Chat

A screenshot of the request to join page in Google Chat on the web. There is a message which reads “You need access to join this space. Request to join, or switch to an account with access”. Underneath this, there is a blue “Request to join” button and the name of the space manager in which the request will be shared with.

To help you join relevant spaces faster, a new “Request to join” feature was introduced in Google Chat. This feature lets you request access to private spaces when you have a link, instead of waiting for an invitation or to be added directly. Space managers can then ✅ approve or ❌ deny your request directly within the chat message stream.

There were three Google Chat API updates released in June. The first enables developers to use the API to make a space more discoverable to a relevant target audience rather than inviting members individually. The second introduces a new option in the API that will let developers use their integrations to add and remove Google Groups as space members. The third brings additional space management capabilities to the API, allowing developers to create tools that automate and simplify tasks for admins. This includes updating space details, promoting space members to space managers and more.

A screenshot of a Google Chat space called “Global Sales”. The first message includes a company update with employees responding by adding emoji reactions and sending replies. At the top of the image is overlaid a zoomed-in view of the space name and the membership count: Global Sales, 499,876 members.

The member capacity in Google Chat spaces significantly expanded to support the very largest groups, enabling the creation and joining of spaces with up to 500,000 members. This is up from the previous limit of 50,000.

Google Drive

A screenshot of a user’s Gmail inbox on the web displaying a digest email from Google Drive. The email subject line reads “Your Drive Digest – Unviewed files shared with you”. The email body lists all unseen files shared with the user, including the file title, the name of the person who shared it and the number of days since it was shared. Below the listed files, there is a blue "See more activity" button that links to the Drive Activity page.

Last month, Google introduced a new digest 📨 email feature that automatically sends summaries of unseen, shared Google Drive files directly to your inbox when you haven’t been active on Drive in a week. This makes it easier to catch up on important files you might have missed during busy periods or after time off without needing to search through Drive.

Google Drive audit logs now include activities triggered by Gemini, including when Gemini accesses data from files in order to respond to user prompts. This additional information gives admins more insight into how Gemini leverages Drive content, helping them ensure it adheres to organisational security and compliance standards.

Visitor sharing, a feature that lets you securely collaborate on Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides files with people who don’t have a Google Account, expanded to include support for client-side encryption. This means you can work with a wider range of people outside of your organisation, including customers, clients and stakeholders, on your encrypted files whilst 🔒 protecting sensitive information.

Google Docs

You can now use 💬 comments and ✅ action items in your client-side encrypted Google Docs to make it easier to collaborate with others on sensitive files whilst maintaining control over data security. This feature was previously available in beta and is now available to those with Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus.

Google Sheets

A short video showing a user setting up a new rule for conditional notifications in Google Sheets. The spreadsheet, called “Team task tracker”, features a table with various tasks, their statuses and names each task’s owner. In the sidebar, the user creates a new rule that will send an email notification to herself and some team members when a task’s status is changed in the spreadsheet.

Conditional notifications started rolling out in Google Sheets. This feature, initially announced at Google Cloud Next ‘24, enables you to create personalised rules to notify you via ✉️ email when specific changes are made in a spreadsheet, helping you stay informed and up to date.

Calculations in Google Sheets will now be completed twice as fast. 🚀 This includes formulae, pivot tables, conditional formatting and more. You’ll benefit from the speed-doubling in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge with more browsers to be supported later.

Google Slides

A screenshot of a user in Google Slides on the web. The user has navigated to the “View” menu and has selected “Mode”. There are three modes to choose from: “Editing”, “Commenting” and “Viewing”. Under each mode there is a brief description of its functionality.

A new menu item launched in Google Slides, making it easier to switch between ✍️ editing, 💬 commenting and 👀 viewing modes depending on your needs and workflow. The commenting and viewing modes can be particularly useful when you want to review the presentation and focus on the content without distractions or accidental edits.

Google Calendar

During the last week of June, Google shared in a beta update that it is improving the syncing experience between Google Calendar 📆 and third-party services like Outlook. For those who use third-party calendars to collaborate with Google Calendar users, events will sync more accurately and there will be better possibilities to filter them out of your inbox.

Google Admin Panel

Google announced that its eSignature feature (currently in beta) will be available for those on select Google Workspace editions from July. The eSignature feature streamlines requesting and capturing signatures in Google Docs and Google Drive. In advance of the upcoming rollout, a new control arrived in the Google Admin panel allowing admins to decide whether their users can request signatures on files.

June also saw the introduction of two Colab subscriptions for Google Workspace: Colab Pro and Colab Pro+. Admins can purchase licences for these offerings and assign them to users, granting them access to Google's powerful computational resources with more compute units, faster GPUs and more memory than the free version of Colab. Licences can be assigned at the individual, organisational unit or organisation-wide level.

Gemini

A short video of a user in Google Slides on the web. The user has the Gemini side panel open on the right-hand side of the screen. They have entered a prompt that reads “Create an agenda slide for this presentation” and Gemini presents the user with an agenda for the presentation that they have open.

The ✨ Gemini ✨ side panel started rolling out across Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides in June. This enables you to chat with Gemini about your content and get help with tasks such as summarising information and generating content – without leaving the application you’re in. Google also shared that Gemini will be available on the Gmail 📱 mobile app for Android and iOS, letting you analyse email threads and summarise messages conveniently from your phone.

Users will be able to express interest in using Gemini for Workspace, a request which is sent to company admins who can decide whether to provide a licence. Admins can turn off the ability for end-users to submit those requests.

A new filter will let admins refine Gemini usage 📈 reports by OU (organisational unit) and groups for a more granular view of how Gemini is being used. Reports are also now available to Education users.

AppSheet

Previously available in beta, developers can now use Google Form 📝 submissions to trigger automations within AppSheet. This integration can be used to streamline workflows by automatically sending notifications or approval requests via Gmail or Google Chat based on form responses.

Catch Up on May's Updates

From new Google Meet Hardware framing modes to livestreaming enhancements in Google Meet and file previews in Google Drive, May saw many significant updates across Google Workspace. Catch up on these features, and explore others that you may have missed, in our May recap.

← Older Post Newer Post →