New Chrome Browser Profile Reporting for Workspace users available in the Admin console

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 24, 2025
Friday, January 24, 2025
1 New update

Improving event summary cards in the Gmail mobile app
Following last year's announcement of purchase summary cards, we're excited to introduce updates to the summary cards for Google Calendar events that make it easier for you to find relevant event information directly in Gmail. Now, when you receive an event related email, such as a restaurant reservation or dentist appointment, an updated card will show above the email content. This card summarizes the most up to date event information from the email and lets you quickly complete event actions, such as adding the event to your Calendar, getting directions to the location, or calling the venue. | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about using summary cards in Gmail.

**Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 17, 2025
Friday, January 17, 2025**
New updates
Previous announcements

Generate vocabulary lists using Gemini in Google Classroom
In continuing our efforts to ensure AI helps educators save time, create captivating learning experiences, and inspire creativity, we’re introducing a new way to generate vocabulary lists with the help of Gemini. | Learn more about Gemini vocab lists in Classoom.

Introducing the ability to ‘grade all’ in Google Classroom
To further improve upon grading options for teachers and give them the ability to perform bulk grading, we’re introducing ‘grade all’. With this new feature, teachers can quickly and efficiently grade all students' work on the Gradebook page by selecting ‘grade all’. | Learn more about grade all in Classroom.

New Chrome Browser Profile Reporting for Workspace users available in the Admin console
For Google Workspace customers with Chrome Enterprise Core, we’re pleased to introduce a new Chrome browser profile list and reporting features for signed-in Google Workspace users. | Learn more about Chrome Browser Profile Reporting.

The best of Google AI, now included in Workspace Business and Enterprise plans
This week, we announced that we’re including the best of Google AI in Workspace Business and Enterprise plans without the need to purchase an add-on. | Learn more about Google AI in Workspace.

Configure Google Meet hardware devices to trust private certificates
You can now use private CAs to securely connect your Google Meet hardware with a third-party room control system's UCI. | Learn more about configuring Google Meet hardware devices.

See phonics-based performance insights for decodable books in Google Classroom
To improve upon the current analytics dashboard experience and provide teachers with phonics-based performance insights for decodable books, we’re adding a new analysis section. | Learn more about phonics-based performance insights in Classroom.

Use tokens as placeholders for user specific information when configuring managed iOS applications
Admins can now use tokens in the app configurations for managed iOS apps. Tokens act as placeholders for information specific to a user or device that uses the app, such as a user's email address or their device serial number. | Learn more about tokens when configuring managed iOS applications.

Use tokens as placeholders for user specific information when configuring managed iOS applications
Thursday, January 16, 2025
What’s changing
In May 2024, we launched the ability for admins to remotely configure managed iOS apps on end-user devices via Google Mobile Device Management.

Beginning today, admins can use tokens in the app configurations for managed iOS apps. Tokens act as placeholders for information specific to a user or device that uses the app, such as a user's email address or their device serial number. Previously, configuration data was static, but this update gives admins the flexibility to configure devices dynamically according to various users and devices.

See phonics-based performance insights for decodable books in Google Classroom
Thursday, January 16, 2025
What’s changing
Last year, we introduced Read Along in Google Classroom, a new feature that helps students build their independent reading skills by enabling teachers to assign differentiated reading content, based on Lexile® measure, grade level, or phonics skills.
Read Along in Classroom includes access to a growing library of decodable books from Heggerty that educators can assign to practice specific decoding skills. To improve upon the current analytics dashboard experience and provide teachers with phonics-based performance insights for decodable books, we’re adding a new analysis section.
With this update, teachers will see details about how a student or class is performing on the individual phonics skills listed in a decodable book and words that need practice.

Configure Google Meet hardware devices to trust private certificate authorities
Thursday, January 16, 2025
What’s changing
Google Meet hardware devices can now trust HTTPS certificates signed by a private certificate authority (CA). This simplifies the process of setting up and managing third-party user control interfaces (UCIs), especially in high impact meeting spaces with systems like Q-SYS.

Previously, you had to get certificates signed by a public CA to enable Google Meet hardware touch controllers to load third-party UCIs. This process was often time-consuming and expensive, and required frequent renewals.

Now, Google Meet hardware devices can trust certificates signed by a private certificate authority, enabling them to securely load a third-party room control system's UCI. This gives you more control over your network security and eliminates the costs and complexities associated with public certificate signing.

The best of Google AI, now included in Workspace Business and Enterprise plans
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
What’s changing
Today we announced that we’re including the best of Google AI in Workspace Business and Enterprise plans without the need to purchase an add-on. Many Workspace customers have been using generative AI to boost productivity, creativity, and innovation, transforming how they work. Gemini is helping reduce the burden of mundane tasks, like taking notes during meetings and synthesizing long documents, and stepping in as a strategic thought partner to bring ideas to life and find ways to problem solve. Expanding the latest generative AI capabilities to more of our customers ensures they have the tools they need to stay on the cutting and competitive edge.

New Chrome Browser Profile Reporting for Workspace users available in the Admin console
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
What’s changing
For Google Workspace customers with Chrome Enterprise Core, we’re pleased to introduce a new Chrome browser profile list and reporting features for signed-in Google Workspace users. These new capabilities give IT administrators more insight into Chrome user profiles in their organization. The report includes a new managed profiles list and detail pages where IT administrators can find information such as profile details, browser versions, policies applied, extensions installed and more. The list of extensions installed allows you to identify versions of extensions that can potentially be a risk factor for your users.

Overall, this update significantly improves how admins analyze how their users are interacting with Chrome and allows them to take action to keep their users and data secure in Chrome.

Introducing the ability to ‘grade all’ in Google Classroom
Monday, January 13, 2025
What’s changing
In 2023, we expanded grading systems in Google Classroom and in 2024 we added a 'missing' grade state to Gradebook. To further improve upon grading options for teachers and give them the ability to perform bulk grading, we’re introducing ‘grade all’.
With this new feature, teachers can quickly and efficiently grade all students' work on the Gradebook page by selecting ‘grade all’. They can also choose to override existing grades and automatically return them to students after grading.
Not only does this update save time by eliminating the need to enter each student’s grade one-by-one, but it also provides a solution to grading assignments based on completion rather than accuracy (such as exit tickets, due nows, classwork, etc.) where the grade is binary (‘0’ or ‘100’).

Generate vocabulary lists using Gemini in Google Classroom
Monday, January 13, 2025
What’s changing
Since May of last year, education institutions have been leveraging new and powerful ways of working, teaching and learning with Gemini for Google Workspace. This includes products and features such as the Gemini app, Gemini Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI™), Gemini in Google Vids and Gemini in Classroom.
In continuing our efforts to ensure AI helps educators save time, create captivating learning experiences, and inspire creativity, we’re introducing a new way to generate vocabulary lists with the help of Gemini.
Starting today, educators can generate custom word lists that are tailored to specific grade levels and topics identified by the educator. Specifically, the list will provide the word’s grammatical category, a clear definition, and a relevant example sentence to help students understand and use the vocabulary effectively. This functionality is accessible via the “Gemini Education” tab in Google Classroom.

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - January 10, 2025
Friday, January 10, 2025
Local files now sync to Google Drive faster
We’ve added support for differential uploads to Google Drive, which means when large files are edited, Drive for desktop will now upload only the parts of the file that changed. This highly-requested feature results in much faster Drive syncs. | Rollout to Rapid and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about uploading files & folders to Google Drive.

Prevent the downloading, printing, or copying of files by all users with Enhanced IRM for Google Drive Data-Loss Prevention
Thursday, January 9, 2025
What’s changing
Google Drive’s Information Rights Management (IRM) capability protects documents from data exfiltration actions, specifically downloading, printing, and copying. This is useful for making sure that sensitive content is protected from data leakage.
Historically, this feature has only been applicable to users with either the “viewer” or “commenter” role, which has left administrators unable to apply the setting to users with write permissions (see here for more information on Drive roles). To address this, we’re expanding IRM to be applicable to all users, including file writers and owners, when it is applied by a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) rule.

Google Meet provides additional privacy for livestreaming with new eCDN On-Premises API
Thursday, January 9, 2025
What’s changing
Earlier this year, we introduced Enterprise Content Delivery Network (eCDN) to enhance livestreaming in Google Meet. When configured by admins, eCDN has the potential to reduce bandwidth consumption to a fraction of the traffic volume through peer-assisted media delivery.

However, environments that have additional security requirements would not be able to benefit from the network traffic savings enabled by eCDN. That changes today with the introduction of the eCDN On-Premises API for Google Meet, which admins can use to configure their network for eCDN while keeping classified IP addresses and network information private. Specifically, IP addresses will be replaced with self-assigned peering group names and encrypted information for session description protocol (SDP) handshakes. This ensures that no IP information is shared with Google, so customers can take advantage of eCDN while adhering to their own security guidelines.

Use Gemini to interact with PDFs in Google Drive’s overlay file previewer
Thursday, January 9, 2025
What’s changing
Earlier this year, we introduced the ability to use Gemini in Google Drive to interact with PDFs. To improve your viewing experience when reviewing PDFs from Drive, we’re excited to announce that Gemini in the side panel of Drive is now integrated into Drive's overlay file previewer.
As a result, you can seamlessly switch between multiple files while leveraging AI capabilities using Gemini in Drive to do things like:

• Get a quick overview of long, complicated PDFs
• Use PDF contents to make something new, like a study guide or an email draft
• Summarize files in @-folder