Set client-side encryption as the default mode for new emails, events, and files

What’s changing

Admins can now set client-side encryption (CSE) to be on by default for:

Newly created Gmail messages, Google Calendar events. Newly created Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files.Newly uploaded Google Drive files.

Admins can set client-side encryption as default on for users in Organizational Units (OUs) that regularly handle sensitive data requiring additional encryption. This allows organizations the flexibility to meet their compliance and regulatory requirements and reduce the burden on change management programs. Users are prompted to create a CSE object natively in each app meaning their emails, events and files are encrypted by default with customer-managed keys and are private from Google. For organizations with strict regulatory or sovereignty needs, this can help them close compliance gaps by defaulting users to the preferred mode for handling sensitive data.  

Drive:

Gmail:

This is available on the web initially, with support coming for mobile apps in the future. 

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it matters

This feature is important for Google Workspace admins as it improves users compliance behavior without sacrificing productivity and increases control for admins implementing data control policies. It also includes improved audit logs, providing more detail for admins compiling regulatory compliance reports.

Workspace already uses the latest cryptographic standards to encrypt data by default, at rest and in transit between our facilities. Client-side encryption goes beyond this, giving organizations authoritative control and privacy as the sole owner of private encryption keys and the identity provider of the encryption keys. It gives organizations higher confidence that any third party, including Google and foreign governments, cannot access their confidential data. Users can continue to collaborate across their preferred apps in Workspace while IT and compliance teams can ensure that sensitive data stays compliant with regulations. 

Getting started

Admins: This feature will be OFF by default and can be configured at the group or OU level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about client-side encryption.End users: Use our Help Center to learn more about working with encrypted files in Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on December 5, 2023

Availability

Google Workspace Assured Controls is available as an add-on to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers only. For more information, contact your Google account representative.

Resources

Meet Add-ons SDK available in Developer Preview

What’s changing 

Today, the Google Meet Web Add-ons SDK is available through our Developer Preview Program. Developers can use the SDK to bring their app experience right into Meet. End users can install, open, and collaborate in apps right inside a meeting, either as the meeting focal point, or in the sidebar — all without ever leaving Meet. 
Recently, we announced the availability of the Google Meet API through the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program. The Google Meet Add-ons SDK expands on these platform capabilities and allows developers to integrate apps and workflows directly into the Meet UI. There are two ways in which add-ons show up in Meet: the main stage of a meeting or the meeting side panel. The main stage allows apps to be the focal point of a meeting experience, unlocking the opportunity for add-on users to collaborate while in a meeting. The side panel allows users to to share data, take surveys, or update records while staying focused on the discussion in the meeting.

Partners such as Atlassian, Figma, Lucid, Miro, Read.ai, and Polly.ai have already built and launched Meet Add-ons, and we’re excited to see what other apps and workflows developers will build into Meet’s highly-interactive surfaces.

During Developer Public Preview, add-ons can only be deployed within your domain and are only accessible when using Google Meet on the web. In the coming months, we will also launch Meet Add-ons SDKs for Android and iOS to expand these capabilities to mobile form factors. 
To access the preview SDK, please join the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program.

Who’s impacted

Admins and developers

Why you’d use it 

Using the Google Meet Add-Ons SDK, developers can integrate their apps directly in Google Meet. In turn, meeting participants can leverage these apps to collaborate on a whiteboard, brainstorm with the latest design files, and more all without leaving the Meet user interface.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for the Meet Add-ons SDK. The availability of Google Meet Add-ons in meetings can be controlled through the Google Meet Admin Controls.  Visit the Help Center to learn more about admin controls for Add-ons.Developers:To use the Google Meet Add-Ons SDK, developers can apply for access through our Google Workspace Developer Preview Program. Our Developer Documentation has more information about using the Meet Add-Ons SDK.End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using add-ons with Google Meet.

Rollout pace

This feature is available now through the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers

Resources

New guide to help screen reader users transition from Gmail HTML view to Gmail Standard view

What’s changing

Earlier this year, we informed users that Gmail Basic HTML view for desktop web and mobile web would be disabled starting in early 2024. We know that many users in the accessibility community use Basic HTML view, so today we’re sharing a guide to help screen reader users make the switch from HTML to Standard view. This new guide, along with an existing resource to ensure the best Gmail experience when using a desktop screen reader, should help users get up to speed on Gmail Standard view. 
If you haven’t used Standard view recently, you’ll notice we’ve made numerous usability improvements, including enhancements for people that prefer or require the precision of navigating the user interface by keyboard or screen reader. Accessibility of Standard view has significantly improved over the last few years and we’re committed to continuing to improve the accessibility experience and making new features accessible going forward. 

Getting started 

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. You can use Gmail on your browser in Basic HTML view through February 2024. After this, Gmail automatically changes to Standard view. End users: Once Basic HTML view is disabled, users will automatically be redirected to the Standard Gmail view which provides the latest in Gmail security and features. Users on old browsers may need to update their browser to use the Standard view. On mobile, users can also download the official Gmail app. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Gmail with a screen reader. 

Rollout pace 

Gmail automatically changes to Standard view starting February 2024. If you prefer, you can switch to Standard view now

Availability 

This impacts all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 15, 2023

2 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time. If not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete.

We have begun enforcing 2-step verification for all admin accounts 
Two-step verification (2SV) is a critical security measure that has been proven to reduce password-based hijacking by more than 50%. We are committed to protecting the security of our users and are taking additional steps to help customers guard against data compromise and prevent account takeovers.
We have begun enforcing 2SV for all admin accounts and will continue this enforcement on an ongoing basis. As of December 2023, this change is already in effect for some customers. When this goes into effect for your organization, you will receive the following notifications:
30 days prior to enforcement in your domain: Super admins will receive various email and in-app notifications informing them of the forthcoming enforcement, encouraging them to verify their admins’ 2SV status. Once enforcement goes into effect in your domain: All admins will receive email and in-app notifications upon signing into their accounts for the next thirty days. If they do not enable 2SV within this time period, they will be locked out and will need to follow these steps to recover an administrator account.
We highly encourage all administrators to turn on 2SV as soon as possible. Visit the Help Center for more details and further guidance.
Dynamic groups limit increased to 500 
We’re increasing the number of dynamic groups a customer can have from 100 to 500. Dynamic groups are defined as groups whose membership is managed automatically based on specific criteria, such as a user’s department or location. This increase gives admins more flexibility to create dynamic groups as needed and cuts down on manual group management tasks that would otherwise be required. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains at a gradual pace (up to 15 days for feature visibility). | Available for Google Workspace Frontline Standard, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus, Enterprise Essentials Plus, and Cloud Identity Premium customers only. | Learn more about dynamic groups.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Meet Add-ons SDK available in Developer Preview 

The Google Meet Web Add-ons SDK is available through our Developer Preview Program. Developers can use the SDK to bring their app experience right into Meet. End users can install, open, and collaborate in apps right inside a meeting, either as the meeting focal point, or in the sidebar — all without ever leaving Meet. | Learn more about Meet Add-ons SDK .

Huddly cameras bring continuous framing to Google Meet Series One room kits 
As part of our initiative to bring adaptive framing to Google Meet meeting rooms, we’re proud to announce that you can now access Huddly’s continuous framing capability available as part of the Series One room kit hardware devices. | Available to all Google Workspace customers using Google Meet Series One room kits only. | Learn more about Google Meet Series One.
Record and share your name pronunciation across Google Workspace products 
From your Google account settings, you can now record your name and share its pronunciation with other users. The pronunciation can be played from your profile card across various Google Workspace tools such as Gmail or Google Docs on web or mobile devices. | Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline Starter, Frontline Standard, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more about name pronunciation. 
Easy access to people, documents, building blocks and more in Google Docs 
When moving to a blank line within your Doc, you will see an “@” button with the option to select, search and insert smart chips, such as people, dates, timers, or files, building blocks, calendar events, groups and more. | Learn more about bringing smart canvas features to the forefront of your workflow
Excuse assignments in Google Classroom 
Teachers can mark an assignment for a particular student as “Excused” instead of giving it a 0-100 score. This will exclude that particular assignment from the student’s overall grade. | Learn more about excusing assignments. 
Introducing interactive questions for YouTube videos in Google Classroom 
Educators can now turn any YouTube video into an interactive lesson by adding questions for their students to answer throughout the video. | Available to Education Plus and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade only. | Learn more about interactive videos. 
Introducing the Bitbucket app for Google Chat 
We’re adding Bitbucket for Google Chat. Bitbucket is a Git-based code and CI/CD tool optimized for teams using Atlassian’s Jira. | Learn more about Bitbucket app for Google Chat. 
Use “Profile Discovery” to display basic information only in search results, available in open beta 
Google Workspace admins can now turn on “Profile discovery” for their users. When turned on, users can customize how they appear across Google products to people who search for them by their phone number or email. Specifically, you can choose how you want your name to be displayed and how your profile picture will be displayed. | Learn more about Profile Discovery.

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog posts for additional details.

Rapid Release Domains: 
Scheduled Release Domains: 
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains: 

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Introducing the Bitbucket app for Google Chat

What’s changing 

Following the recently announced Workday app for Google Chat that allows you to perform quick actions in Workday without leaving Google Chat, we’re excited to also introduce Bitbucket for Google Chat
Bitbucket is a Git-based code and CI/CD tool optimized for teams using Atlassian’s Jira. The Bitbucket app for Google Chat will allow you to receive messages when events occur in your Bitbucket repositories, as well as perform quick actions, such as viewing and approving pull requests. 

Getting started 

Admins: In the Admin Console, you can specify whether your users can install the Bitbucket app for Google Chat from the Google Workspace Marketplace. You may also install the Bitbucket app for Google Chat on behalf of users in your domain. In order for the Chat app to work, a Bitbucket admin must also install the Google Chat app for Bitbucket from the Atlassian Marketplace. End users: If allowed by your admin, you’ll be able to install Google Chat apps, such as Bitbucket for Google Chat, using the “New chat” button in Google Chat. The apps you install will appear in the Chat conversation list. Visit the Help Center to learn more about getting started with Bitbucket app for Google Chat.

Rollout pace 

This app is available now for all users. 

Availability 

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources