Announcements of the Week
Helping users prevent echo in Google Meet
We’re making it easier to identify and fix when an echo is happening in Google Meet video calls. Now, we will notify you when we detect a notable echo from your system which may be heard by other call participants with a red dot on the more options button, along with a text notification. Clicking on the notification will go to our Help Center, where you can find recommended steps which can help prevent echo. Read more.
Security groups are now generally available
In 2020, we launched security groups to beta. Beginning today, this feature is now generally available. Security groups help you easily regulate, audit, and monitor groups used for permission and access control purposes.
Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. Read more.
Save time replying to comments in Google Docs with Smart Reply
In 2017, we introduced Smart Reply in Gmail to save you time by suggesting quick responses to your messages. Now, Smart Reply in Google Docs saves you time replying to comments in Docs by suggesting relevant replies. Read more.
View corresponding Google Chat messages from the Tasks tab in a Chat room
When viewing your tasks in the “tasks” tab in a Google Chat room, you can quickly navigate back to the Google Chat message where the task was created or the task creation was indicated.
Simply hover over the task on the web or select the task on mobile and then select the Chat. Read more.
Replace your background with a video in Google Meet on iOS
In addition to replacing your Google Meet background with a static image on web and mobile, you can now replace your background with a video. At the moment, you can select from three Google made videos: a classroom, a party, and a forest — more options will be available soon. This feature is already available on Google Meet on web. Read more.
New intelligent suggestions for formulas and functions in Google Sheets
You’ll now see in-line, sequential, context-aware suggestions for formulas and functions when working with data in Google Sheets.
Formula suggestions will make it easier to write new formulas accurately and help make data analysis quicker and easier.
Simply begin inserting a formula in Sheets—suggestions will be automatically displayed and as you continue to type. You can view additional incremental suggestions in the drop-down menu. Read more.
Set the Google Chat standalone app to run automatically at startup
You can now configure the Chat Progressive Web Application (PWA) to “Start app when you sign in” to your computer. This can be done on your Windows, MAC OS or Linux computer by going to chrome://apps, right clicking on Google Chat and then choosing “Start app when you sign in.” Read more.
