Picture-in-picture in Google Meet will now open automatically when switching tabs

What’s changing 

Have you ever lost your video screen after switching to another tab? Google Meet’s picture-in-picture feature helps to solve that problem, but now we’ve made it even easier. Picture-in-picture mode will now automatically trigger when you switch tabs during a meeting. Previously, you had to manually turn on this feature during a meeting. This simple, yet impactful update, will help ensure your meeting stays visible and accessible if you need to switch tabs to take notes, view meeting related documents, and more. Note that picture-in-picture is only available with Google Chrome on a computer.

Getting started 

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. End users: You can turn this feature off from your Google Chrome settings. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using picture-in-picture with Google Meet.
You can turn this feature on and off by selecting the “View site information” icon in the Chrome URL bar and turning “Automatic picture-in-picture” off.



Rollout pace 

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 26, 2024Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 10, 2024

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts 

Resources

Business Starter customers will soon have access to shared drives

What’s changing

Last year, we announced that we’re updating the storage model in Business Starter from per-user storage to pooled storage. Today, we’re excited to share that organizations with Business Starter will officially have access to shared drives starting mid-September. 
With this change, Business Starter users will be able to create shared drives and add members, files, and folders. Please note that certain admin-level and security controls—like the ability to control access to the items in a shared drive—will not be included in the fundamental version of shared drives for Business Starter. 

Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 

Why it’s important 

Part of empowering our customers to do their best work means reducing the friction around file sharing and collaboration. Shared drives are a key tool for collaboration—users can store, search, and access their team’s files instantly. Additionally, they offer benefits such as: 
Easy discoverability: Less time spent requesting access to files and searching for relevant documents with all of your team’s files in one place. Files are forever: All content stays put — even when collaborators or team members leave, your content won’t. Easy collaboration: Every member of a shared drive can explore and collaborate in the same files. You can also add users outside your team or organization. Accessible anywhere: Regardless of location or device, you can always access the files you need most.

Additional details

When shared drives are made available to Business Starter customers, all users will be able to create shared drives by default. If this default behavior is undesired, admins can update their settings before Business Starter users gain access to the feature starting on September 23, 2024. To restrict this, go to the Admin console > Menu > Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs > Sharing settings > Shared drive creation > turn on “Prevent users in [domain] from creating new shared drives.” 

Getting started 

Admins: When shared drives are available to Business Starter, admins can use the Admin console to: Add and remove members Change access level of members Restrict moving content externally The following features aren’t available for shared drives in Business Starter: Admins cannot set default settingsBusiness Starter users cannot change settings Visit the Help Center to learn how to set up shared drives for your organization and then allow users to create shared drives. If you need more storage for your organization, consider purchasing additional pooled storage or upgrading your Google Workspace edition to a plan with more storage.Note: Resold customers should contact their reseller to purchase more storage or upgrade their edition. End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about shared drives.

Rollout pace 

Admin setting: 
Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 26, 2024 
Shared drives enabled by default: 
Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 23, 2024 

Availability 

This update impacts Google Workspace Business Starter customers. 

Resources 

Upload additional types of documents to Gemini (gemini.google.com) for insights and analysis

What’s changing 

Beginning today, Google Workspace users with a Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education or Education Premium license can now upload a variety of files from Google Drive or locally from your device into Gemini (gemini.google.com): 
Document and text files, such as TXT, DOC, DOCX, PDF, RTF, DOT, DOTX, HWP, HWPX and Google Docs Data Files, such as XLS, XLSX, CSV, TSV and Google Sheets Gemini can use uploaded files to gain context and analyze your content. In turn, this can help enhance your understanding, research, and writing through summarization of complex subject matter, identification of trends and insights, and recommendations for improving writing and document organization. Uploading a document can also help give you more personalized and relevant responses. 

Additional details 

At this time, Context-Aware Access (CAA) for files uploaded from Google Drive isn’t supported. Context-Aware Access gives you control over which apps a user can access based on their context, such as whether their device complies with your IT policy. Learn more about Context-Aware Access.Uploading files from Google Drive honors access control settings for files within Drive, meaning users can only upload files that they own or have been shared with them. File upload is not available to Google Workspace users accessing Gemini as an additional Google service.Users with a Gemini for Google Workspace license who access Gemini as a core service are subject to the Google Workspace Terms of Service or Google Workspace for Education Terms of Service (for education institutions). When users use Gemini as a core service, their chats and uploaded files won’t be reviewed by human reviews or otherwise used to improve generative AI models. 

Getting started 

Admins: 
Local file upload will be available in Gemini (gemini.google.com) by default to all Gemini Enterprise, Business, Education and Education Premium users. File upload from Google Drive in Gemini (gemini.google.com) requires you to turn on Workspace extensions in Gemini. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Google Workspace extensions on or off for your organization. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Gemini (gemini.google.com) on or off for your users, or about Gemini Enterprise and Gemini Business in general.End users: Users can upload up to 10 files at a time, and each file can be up to 100 MB. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to upload and analyze files in the Gemini web app. File upload from Google Drive in Gemini requires you to connect Google Workspace apps & services in Extensions setting.

Rollout pace 

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on August 27, 2024 

Availability

Available for Google Workspace customers with 
Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium add-on 

Resources 

“Take notes for me” in Google Meet is now available

What’s changing

Today, we’re pleased to announce that “take notes for me” will begin rolling out to Google Meet for select Google Workspace customers. “Take notes for me” is an AI-powered feature in Google Meet that automatically takes notes, allowing you to focus on discussion, collaboration, and presentation during your meetings. After the meeting, the notes document is attached to the calendar event where participants internal to your organization can access them. At launch, this feature will be available when using Google Meet on a computer or laptop, and meetings must be conducted in spoken English.
Select the pencil icon in the top right corner of the screen to start taking meeting notes.
All meeting participants will see a blue pencil icon on their screen and a notification that notes are being taken. They can click on the pencil to see the meeting notes taken so far.
After the meeting ends, the meeting organizer and whoever turned on the feature will receive an email with a link to the generated meeting notes document. The notes document will also be attached to the calendar event, where internal meeting participants can access it.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why you’d use it 

It can be challenging to stay on top of and engaged with meeting discussions while also trying to keep a record of the meeting and subsequent follow-ups. This is where “take notes for me” can help. When turned on, the feature will do the following:
Automatically capture meeting notes in Google Docs and save it to the Google Drive of the meeting owner.Catch you up during the meeting with “summary so far” if you join late.Send an email with a link to the recap after the meeting. This email goes to the meeting organizer and whoever turned on the feature. 
This will help you be more present and engaged during your meetings, while still ensuring important information is captured for record-keeping and follow-up. If users also turn on meeting recordings and transcripts, those will be linked within the notes document.

Additional details

Notes documents will be stored in the meeting owner’s drive folder and will follow the Meet retention policy that your organization has configured. If you are currently testing this feature in Workspace Labs and Alpha, your experience will change from respecting the Drive retention policy to respecting the Meet retention policy. 

Getting started

Admins: Take notes for me will be ON by default and can be configured at the OU and Group level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about allowing Google Meet AI to take notes for my users.

Apps > Google Workspace > Google Meet > Gemini Settings > Gemini AI note-taking

End users: Once enabled by your admin, you can use this article in our Help Center to learn more about “take notes for me” in Google Meet. You can also turn this feature on in advance from the Calendar invite — visit our Help Center to learn more about enabling meeting records to start automatically.  

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 27, 2024 with expected completion on September 10, 2024

Availability

Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:
Gemini Enterprise Gemini Education PremiumAI Meetings & Messaging

Google Meet provides consolidated email for all meeting artifacts

What’s changing

Currently, Google Meet sends an email for each type of meeting artifact initiated in a meeting, including meeting recordings, meeting transcripts, Gemini notes with “take notes for me,” live streams and more. Going forward, you’ll receive one email consolidating these artifacts. This not only helps reduce inbox clutter, but it will help you navigate to your meeting artifacts faster.

Getting started 

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. End users: You’ll begin receiving these consolidated emails automatically. 

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers. Note that your Google Workspace edition will determine which meeting features are available to you.“Take notes for me” requires one of the following Gemini for Google Workspace add-ons:Gemini Enterprise Gemini Education PremiumAI Meetings & Messaging

Resources