Google Data

Google Apps Script is a scripting language based on JavaScript that lets you do new and cool things with various Google Apps, like Docs, Sheets, and Forms. Today, we’re launching the Apps Script Execution API, which allows developers and Apps admins to expose the full utility of Apps Script to any application, including Android and iOS apps.

For more information on the Apps Script Execution API, please refer to our post on the Google Apps Developer Blog.

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

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

Impact:
All developers and admins

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Google Apps Developer Blog

As communicated earlier this month, we’ll soon be changing the main Google Calendar URL from www.google.com/calendar to calendar.google.com to further increase security.

Note that the rollout of this change to Rapid release domains has been pushed back to mid-October, with the rollout to Scheduled release domains to follow two weeks later. 

In addition, starting October 1, 2015, the Google Calendar Chrome Web Store app will be automatically updated to use the new URL. Once the new version is activated and the calendar.google.com URL is visible, people using the app with offline sync enabled should go to Settings > Offline to confirm that offline is working and synced.  

Launch Details
Release track:  

• Google Calendar Chrome Web Store app URL change – Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release starting on October 1, 2015
• Main Google Calendar URL change – Launching to Rapid release in mid-October, with Scheduled release coming two weeks later (monitor the launch calendar for specific dates)

Rollout pace: 

• Google Calendar Chrome Web Store app URL change – Gradual rollout (up to two weeks for feature visibility)
• Main Google Calendar URL change – Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact: 
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested for people using the Google Calendar Chrome Web Store app

More Information
Google Calendar Chrome Web Store app


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

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To avoid disruptive emails and help people using Gmail stay in control of their inboxes, today we’re launching a new Block feature in the Gmail app on Android and the web. Future mail from blocked email addresses will go directly to Spam (and can always be unblocked in Settings).

In addition, the Unsubscribe option is now coming to Android, making it easier to opt out of eligible mailing lists and newsletters directly from the Gmail app. 

Check out the Help Center for more information. 

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

Rollout pace: 
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) for the Block feature on the web. Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility) for the Block and Unsubscribe features on Android.

Impact: 
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center
Get the Gmail app on Google Play

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

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By default, when you copy and paste content in Google Sheets, the formatting of that content is maintained (unless you use the Paste special function). This launch gives you alternative formatting options at your fingertips, allowing you to paste only the values contained with a cell (e.g. the numbers or text, without any formatting) or the formatting of the cell itself (e.g. the fill color or border design). Each option is easily accessible—after you paste, a small widget will appear in the bottom corner of the cells you’re pasting into. Clicking on that widget will show you the option to Paste values only or Paste format only. Interested in saving even more time? In Chrome, use the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V to automatically paste values without their formatting.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

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

A new version (v 5.0) of the Google Apps Migration for IBM Notes (GAMIN) tool is now available for download. GAMIN was formerly known as Google Apps Migration for Lotus Notes (GAMLN).

Here’s what’s new:

• Service Accounts and OAuth 2.0 tokens are now used for data migration
• GAMIN now uses the Gmail API for mail migration and label creation, replacing the Email Migration API v2 and Email Settings API respectively
• Flattened and simplified architecture:
• • Deprecated the multiple site/replicated admin database deployment option
  • Setup and Site profiles merged into a single System Setup profile
  • No longer necessary to specify mail/database servers as part of the system setup
  • Added a 5 step Quick Setup wizard
  • Option to auto-update Domino directory Server and Configuration document settings required for migration

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

Rollout pace: 
Available now for download

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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In July, we introduced a Data Transfer privilege in the Admin console, which we indicated would be required to use the soon-to-launch Data Transfer API. We’re excited to announce that that API is now available! It allows admins to programmatically transfer ownership of Google Drive content and Google+ pages—in bulk—from one employee to another. For more details on the API, please refer to our post on the Google Apps Developer Blog.

Launch Details
Release track:

As previously announced, you can use the Google Slides app on your mobile phone to present to any screen using Chromecast, AirPlay, or Google Hangouts (Android only). This launch makes that task even easier for presenters, allowing them to change and preview slides from their phone’s lock screen and to toggle between a presentation and video in a Hangout.

When presenting, it’s important to keep your audience’s attention. Typing and retyping your mobile phone’s password to unlock your screen and advance your presentation can be time-consuming and distracting. With this launch, when you use the Slides Android app to present to a Chromecast device or Hangout, a notification will remain on your phone’s screen, even when it’s locked. Clicking on that notification will give you options to move forward or backward through your slides or to exit your presentation entirely.

Because sometimes you want to see your audience, this launch also makes it possible to switch to video when presenting to Hangouts via the Slides Android app. It’s easy—simply tap the video camera icon at the top of your screen to view and pin other Hangout participants.

In addition to the above enhancements to the Slides Android app, this latest release also includes improvements to the Google Sheets Android app. Charts in Sheets allow you to display data in ways that are often easier to understand and more compelling. You can already create a multitude of charts in Sheets on the web; with this launch, you can insert charts and change their type using the Sheets Android app as well. For instance, if you insert a bar chart from Explore, you can now quickly and easily change it to a column chart directly within the app.

For more information on these new features, check out the Help Center articles below.

Launch Details

The Google Apps data migration service lets Apps admins easily migrate user data to Google Apps via the Admin console, with no additional software or hardware installations required. The process is easy—just enter basic information about where the data is coming from, specify the type of data to include in the migration, and select the users to migrate. 

Admins could already migrate emails, labels, folders and contacts with the data migration service. With today’s launch of calendar migration support, admins can now easily migrate calendar data from one or multiple Microsoft accounts (including Office 365, and Exchange versions 2007 and above) to Google Apps accounts.

The data migration service can be accessed in the Admin console via the Migrations icon on the home screen. Check out the Help Center for more information.

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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Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
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Last year, as part of an initiative to enhance user security, we encouraged developers to switch to OAuth 2.0 if their applications used plain passwords to authenticate to Google. To further that effort, we are now giving Google Apps admins increased control over user security by allowing them to block access to less secure applications in the Admin console (Security > Basic Settings > Less Secure Apps Access). Admins can change this setting at any time for their entire domains or specific organizational units.

For existing customers, this setting in the Admin console will be checked to allow access to less secure apps. If an admin leaves this setting as is, less secure applications will continue to work for any existing end users who already have them configured. New end users (e.g. new hires) who want to access less secure apps will need to enable them using an option on their My Account pages (under Sign-in & security).

If an admin decides to block access to less secure apps via the Admin console setting, their end users will not see this option on their My Account pages and will instead receive an error message when they try to access less secure apps.

Please note the following:

• If an admin chooses to block access to less secure apps by disabling the Allow access for less secure apps setting in the Admin console, Google Sync/ActiveSync―which allows users to access their Google Apps accounts from devices and apps like the Windows Phone and iOS native mail app―will no longer work.

• If an admin chooses to block access to less secure apps by disabling the Allow access for less secure apps setting in the Admin console, 2SV users will be unable to create to new ASPs (Application-Specific Passwords), though existing ASPs will continue to work. Admins will still have the ability to revoke ASPs on a user-level basis in the Admin console or by using an API.

Check out the Help Center articles and FAQ below for more information. This is a gradual rollout; we recommend waiting two weeks for the changes to fully propagate and the controls to work as intended.

Earlier this year, we introduced Mobile Application Management (MAM) for Android devices. Today, we’re launching that same functionality for iOS devices. iOS Mobile Application Management enables Google Apps admins to recommend specific mobile apps they want their employees to use on their managed iOS devices.

Admins can easily whitelist the apps of their choosing from within the Admin console (Device management > Mobile > Manage Applications for iOS devices). By default, the following six apps are pre-whitelisted: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides.

Once an app is whitelisted, an employee can easily discover and download it from the Device Policy app (recently made available in the App Store) on their iPhone or iPad. This ensures that new and existing employees can easily find and download the apps they need most—without having to scour the App Store or recall specific app names from their orientation. If an employee then leaves the organization and the admin wipes their account, they can be sure that all of that employee’s managed work apps are uninstalled as well.

Check out the Help Center articles below for more information.

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

Rollout pace:

In an effort to further increase security, in the coming weeks we’ll be changing the main Google Calendar URL from ‘www.google.com/calendar’ to ‘calendar.google.com.’

Following the launch, the old Calendar url will simply redirect to the new one, so the overall impact of this change on Google Apps customers should be minimal. A few things of note:

1. Some Chrome extensions that depend on the old Calendar url may stop functioning properly if not appropriately updated by their developers. We have reached out to developers to ensure they have enough time to make any required changes to third party extensions before the URL change. However, if you notice any issues, please check the extension for an update or contact the extension’s developer. Any internal browser extensions should be updated as well.
2. People using Calendar who get gentle notifications will need to grant Calendar permission again for this feature to work. A web browser prompt will automatically ask users to allow calendar.google.com to post notifications. This may look different depending on the specific browser.
3. Apps customers parsing the old Calendar URL structure for any custom tools, etc are advised to update them to also reference the new URL structure.

Launch Details
Release track:  
Launching to Rapid release in mid-October, with Scheduled release coming two weeks later (monitor the launch calendar for specific dates)

Rollout pace: 
Full rollout (1-3 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

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

The right tools help organizations succeed. The Google Apps Marketplace makes it easy for admins and employees to find these tools by offering hundreds of third-party applications that integrate directly into Google Apps for Work. Today, we’re revealing a brand new site for the Google Apps Marketplace that makes this process even simpler. A new home page highlights the most popular apps, new arrivals, and more, while search functionality and the navigation bar make it easy for users to find the apps they need.

Check out the new site at apps.google.com/marketplace. A few things to keep in mind:

• If you’ve disabled the installation of some or all third-party Marketplace apps for your employees (in the Admin console under Apps > Marketplace apps > Settings for Marketplace apps), they will not be able to install those applications from the new Marketplace.

• End users can only see end-user apps in the Marketplace; admins can see both admin-specific and end-user apps in the Marketplace. If you want to access admin-specific apps, please be sure that you’re signed in with your Apps admin account .

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

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

The Google Admin mobile app allows Apps super admins to easily manage users and groups, contact support, view audit logs and do other common administrative tasks all from their Android and iOS devices. 

With today’s launch, we’re streamlining some of the most popular admin experiences, integrating admin actions with mobile communications and introducing a new look and feel. 

The new features, launching today for both Android and iOS, include:

• Richer user profiles with support for groups and several new attributes
• Ability to perform bulk actions on users and groups
• Ability to send text (SMS, WhatsApp, etc.) messages to users when adding them or resetting their password

The user experience has been redesigned using material design principles―aligning with the new look and feel announced for the Admin console on desktop earlier this year―providing a seamless experience across platforms and devices.

Check out the Help Center for more information on the new Google Admin app for Android and iOS.

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: Android
Help Center: iOS
Get the app on Google Play and the App Store


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

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Following the launch of the new standalone Google Hangouts homepage, Hangouts-related services and web traffic will be served from ‘hangouts.google.com’ in addition to existing host names.

This change is happening gradually over the coming weeks. There is no required action for Apps customers.

Launch Details
Release track:  
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release for Hangouts-related services (G+, Gmail, etc) over the coming weeks

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

Impact: 
All end users

Action:
FYI


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

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates