Simplified sharing experience for Google Docs editors and Google Drive

Google launched a new simplified sharing experience for the Google Docs editors and Google Drive, making it easier for people to find and copy the link for a file or folder to share with others.

To give access to your content to others, click the blue “Share” button (or select a file/folder in Drive and click the person icon), and you’ll see a new “Get shareable link” button and grey icon in the upper right corner of the pop-up window. With one click on “Get shareable link,” you’ll see your file’s link appear and that the icon turns from grey to green, meaning that the file is ready to be shared with view-only access.

If you want anyone with the link to do more with your file, like leave comments and suggestions or make edits, just change “Can view” to “Can comment” or “Can edit” in the dropdown. And as always, if you only want certain people to be able to view, comment on, or edit your file, add their email addresses and we’ll send them a link that only they can access.

 

Release track:

Rapid release (gradual rollout), with Scheduled release coming two weeks after completion of rollout to Rapid

For more information:

Drive Blog Post

Help Center

Reference by www.google.com


Unlimited Drive storage for Google Apps for Education

As initially announced last month, this week we’ll be rolling out unlimited Drive storage to all Google Apps for Education schools at no charge.

Stay tuned for future updates on Google Apps Vault and enhanced auditing tools coming later this year to Google Apps for Education.

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:
Google for Education Blog post

Reference by www.google.com


Better collaboration in Hangouts video calls

To make it easier to collaborate during Hangouts video calls, Google enabled the sharing of links to any Drive file directly from the chat window. Shared links will show a preview of the file right in the chat message, even when other participants don’t have their chat window open. Clicking on the link will open the file in a different browser tab so you can conveniently work on it in full view.

To share a link from Drive during a Hangouts video call, click on the Chat icon and then click the Google Drive picker icon from within the chat window.

Note: this feature will replace the Google Drive Hangouts app, which will no longer be available as of December 15th, 2014.

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:
Google for Work G+ Post
Help Center

 

Reference by www.google.com

Admin provisioning of individual Google+ profiles

Previously, Google Apps administrators had no means by which to give people in their organizations a Google+ profile in order to connect with other employees and encourage collaboration and sharing in the organization. With today’s launch, admins can now perform individual profile upgrades centrally (bulk upgrades coming soon).
For people with Google+ enabled who have yet to register (i.e., create a profile), admins may individually create a basic Google+ profile on their behalf, certifying the employee is 18+ years of age (or specifying a birthday). After the admin has completed this action, the person for whom the profile was created will receive a Google+ welcome email explaining the action taken by the admin.
Notes
  • Today’s launch applies to Premier, Gov and higher-education EDU domains only (K-12 EDU domains are excluded).
  • People using Picasa or with a public chat photo are not eligible to be upgraded by an admin, and must create their own profile.

 

Release schedule:
Rapid release and Scheduled release
For more information:
Reference by www.google.com

Launch desktop applications from Google Drive in Chrome

Today Google is launching a new extension for Chrome that lets you open files from Google Drive directly into a compatible application installed on your computer. This includes apps like advanced image and video editing software, accounting and tax programs, or 3D animation and design tools. So, no matter what you keep in Drive, using the web to access and manage files doesn’t mean you’re limited to using applications that only work in your browser.

To get started, install the latest version of the Drive app for Mac or PC (version 1.18) and sync your files. Then, visit Google Drive in your Chrome browser (make sure you’re on the new Google Drive). Finally, right-click on the file and select “Open with” to see a list of compatible applications on your computer that can open it. For example, you can choose to open a PDF file with Adobe Reader, or a .psd with Photoshop, make your edits and save back changes to Drive which will sync across all your devices and other collaborators.

 

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release (gradual rollout)

 

For more information:

Help Center

 

Reference by www.google.com

Increased visibility and control with OAuth token audit reporting

Currently, people using Google Apps can authorize any third party mobile or web application which supports login with a Google Apps account using OAuth to read their account data (e.g. Contacts, Calendar, Drive files, etc) to integrate with Google Apps. Each authorization grants an access token, which is then logged in the Apps Admin console. Previously, Admins could review the current state of OAuth tokens granted by people within their domain using the security tab, but could not access the change logs of authorized and revoked tokens.With this launch, we are adding a new audit report that allows admins to view ‘authorize’ and ‘revoke’ events for OAuth tokens within the Admin console Reports section and the Reports API. Admins can use this new audit report to find out what new apps have been installed by individual users and, if needed, can revoke access using the security tab. This improves admin visibility and control over access of third party apps by users in their domain.

In addition, admins can use the Reports API to set up a push notification for oAuth ‘authorize’ and ‘revoke’ events, generating an alert when a certain event happens. Optionally, admins can also revoke data grants using the Directory API.

To access the OAuth audit reports in Admin console, click on Reports -> Audit -> Token. Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release
For more information:

Help Center

 

Reference by www.google.com

Time-based triggers now in add-ons

Building on the recent launch of installable triggers for add-ons, time-based triggers can now be used as well. Time-based triggers let scripts execute at a particular time or on a recurring interval, as frequently as once per hour in add-ons.

Take a look at our trigger documentation for more information.

 

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

 

For more information:
G+ post

Developer documentation

 

Reference by www.google.com

Deprecated Google Calendar APIs

As initially announced in November 2011, and reiterated in June of this year, the older versions (v1, v2) of the Google Calendar API will be shut down on November 17, 2014.

Any service dependent on v1 or v2 of the Google Calendar API will no longer work as intended. Developers should ensure any relevant services are utilizing v3 of the Google Calendar API prior to the shut down.

 

For more information:

 

Reference by www.google.com

New Google Calendar app

Today, we’re introducing a brand new Google Calendar app, built to save you time and help you make the most of every day.
 
Key features of the app include:
 
  • Assists: suggestions that save you time
    • When creating a calendar event, we often have to piece together phone numbers, addresses and attendees from lots of different sources, then add them to our calendars manually. With Assists, Calendar can suggest titles, people and places as you type, as well as adapt to your preferences over time. For example, if you often have lunch with your mentor Kelly, Calendar can quickly suggest this when you type ‘l-u-n.’
  • Schedule View: easy to scan and lovely to look at
    • Calendar’s new Schedule view includes photos and maps of the places you’re going, cityscapes of travel destinations, and illustrations of everyday events like dinner, drinks and yoga. These images will bring a little extra beauty to your day, and make it easy to see what’s going on at a glance—perfect for when you’re checking in from your phone or tablet.
 
The new Google Calendar will work on all Android 4.1+ devices. It’s available today on all devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop, and you’ll be able to download the update from Google Play in the coming weeks. We’re also working hard on a version for iPhone.
 
Note: The web version of Google Calendar will see some minor terminology changes today (‘Reminders’ become ‘Notifications,’ ‘Privacy becomes Visibility,’ and Privacy level ‘Default’ becomes ‘Calendar Default’).
 
In addition, once people get the new mobile app, they will be able to set separate Notification defaults for all-day events on web as well as mobile. In the coming weeks, people on web Calendar who haven’t used the app will also see this change. They will be informed the first time they use Calendar after this happens.
 
Release track:
App available now for both Rapid release and Scheduled release tracks on devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop. Update available for both release tracks on Google Play (for Android 4.1+) in the coming weeks.
Separate Notification defaults for all-day events on web for those who don’t download the app will launch to Rapid domains in two weeks, and to Scheduled release domains two weeks later.

 

For more information:

Calendar website

 

Reference by www.google.com

 

A more modern Gmail app for Android

Today, the Gmail app for Android is getting updated with a more modern style, sleeker transitions, and a few other handy improvements.

As part of the new design, there’s now a convenient reply button at the bottom of every message, making it quick and easy to continue a conversation when you’re on the go. And if you access the app on your Android tablet, you’ll notice it’s easier to switch between accounts and the different inbox categories.

comprompt-gmail-update

The updated Gmail app also now supports all email providers, which means you can set up a separate inbox for, say, your Yahoo Mail or Outlook.com addresses using POP/IMAP.

The new app will support all Android 4.0+ devices. It’s available today on all devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop and will be rolling out on Google Play to everyone else over the next few days.

 

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

 

For more information:

Get the Gmail app on Google Play

 

Reference by www.google.com