Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 9, 2026

January 9, 2026

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 9, 2026

A summary of announcements from the last week:

Manage Apple Intelligence Writing Tools in Google Workspace iOS apps
Admins can now disable Apple Intelligence Writing Tools within Google Workspace apps. This provides greater data protection and risk mitigation on iOS 18.1+ devices. Simply toggle the setting in the Admin console to hide these external features. Users will no longer see the "Writing Tools" option when selecting text. | Learn more about managing Apple Intelligence Writing Tools in Google Workspace iOS apps.

Now generally available: Migrate files from Dropbox to Google Drive
Admins can use the New Data Migration service to migrate data from Dropbox business accounts, including files, folders and associated permissions, helping organizations transition to Google Workspace quickly and easily. | Learn more about migrating files from Dropbox to Google Drive.

Generate podcast-style audio lessons in Google Classroom using Gemini
Last year, we made Gemini in Classroom available to all Google Workspace for Education editions with features to help educators create content and resources through one central destination in Classroom. Starting today, educators can now
generate and share audio lessons to help students engage more deeply with instructional content and support various learning modalities. | Learn more about generating podcast-style audio lessons in Google Classroom using Gemini.

Control Speech Translation in Google Meet for your users
Google Meet Speech Translation allows translation in near-real time, bridging language barriers across users and organizations. The feature is currently available in alpha but will launch more broadly in beta on January 27, 2026. | Learn more about controlling speech translation in Google Meet for your users.

More user control for “Take notes for me” in Google Meet
We’re introducing a new toggle that lets users choose whether they want to have “Take notes for me” start automatically any time they are hosting a meeting. Previously, meeting hosts had to manually enable “Take notes for me” when they scheduled a call. | Learn more about new user controls for 'Take notes for me' in Google Meet.

Emojis reactions in Gmail will now be on by default
In 2025, we introduced the ability to react to emails in Gmail with emojis. This feature lets users respond quickly to acknowledge receipt of an email in a fun, informal and more authentic way. While initially enabled as an opt-in feature for early customer access, starting February 9, 2026, emoji reactions in Gmail will be enabled by default. | Learn more about default emoji reactions in Gmail.