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538 'Google Apps' stories May 2011 - November 2013

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Google releases ‘Edu Device Setup’ app for Google Play for Education users

Jordan Kahn Nov 27 2013 - 1:34 pm PT

After rolling out Google Play for Education in the U.S. earlier this month— Google’s new service making it easier for educators to distribute apps to multiple Android devices in the classroom— the company has since released the “Google Edu Device Setup” app on Google Play. The app is Google’s official app for educators setting up tablets purchased through the company’s Google Apps for Education program and also allows teachers to enable students to download content from the Edu Play Store.

The app is only available to those with a Google Play for Education administrative account and Google notes it will “only set up Nexus tablets purchased through Google Education.” Google is already supporting the Nexus 7 through the program, and it will begin supporting the ASUS Transformer Pad and the HP Slate 8 Pro early next year.

Description

Quickly and easily set up tablets purchased through Google Apps for Education./n/nAdmins can use this app to enable tablets to receive content from Google Play for Education, as well as transfer the following configuration information:

• A connection to the school’s wifi network (and optional proxy)

• Locked-down, child-appropriate values for key settings (e.g. turning off location sharing)

• An education-specific homescreen

(via AndroidPolice)

Google to introduce new Google Apps sign-in page next year

Chance Miller Nov 26 2013 - 2:55 pm PT

On its Official Apps blog, Google has just announced that within the next few months, it will be revamping the sign-in page for Google Apps accounts. The interface will now be consistent between all Apps services, including Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and any other tools. Google says that it is doing this to improve security and make it easier for users to switch accounts.

Early next year, the sign-in page for all Google Apps customers will be updated to be consistent across all Google Apps services. In other words, the sign-in page for Gmail will now be identical to the sign-in page for Google Calendar, Google Drive, or any other Google Apps service. This change will improve security and make it easier for users to switch between accounts.

Details are scarce at this point, but Google says more information will come in the next few months.

Google Apps

Gmail iOS app updated w/ iOS 7 design tweaks, full-screen compose on iPad, & more

Jordan Kahn Nov 14 2013 - 8:49 am PT

Google today is releasing a pretty big update to its Gmail app that on top of introducing tweaked visuals for iOS 7 also includes a handful of new features for iPad.

The iPhone app appears to have received a few tweaks including a slightly redesigned side navigation bar, but the majority of the UI changes are most noticeable in the iPad app. It receives a slimmed down navigation bar on the left that lets users switch between accounts and inboxes in landscape view, as well as new full-screen moss for messages in portrait an composing new emails. Google also says the updated iPad app includes “better scrolling.”

Version 2.7182 of the Gmail iOS app is available on the App Store now.

What’s New in Version 2.7182

iPhone & iPad: Visual update for iOS 7

iPad: Major Update
– New navigation bar to switch between categories and accounts in landscape
– Full screen view of your messages in portrait
– Better scrolling
– Compose new messages in full screen

Google testing new attachment experience for Gmail

Jordan Kahn Nov 12 2013 - 7:49 am PT

Google Operating System blog, which has a good track record for leaking upcoming features for Google products, today posted a screenshot that shows a redesigned attachments UI for Gmail being tested internally. In the image above we can see the text “Dogfood confidential – submit feedback on the new attachments experience,” along with what looks to be a simplified interface for attachments in emails.

This is what attachments currently look like in emails:

And this is the new attachment interface:

The report speculates that Google could be dropping the “View” and “Download” options and instead just sending users to Google Drive when clicking an attachment.

Gmail adds action buttons for Offers, restaurant reviews, & YouTube, Dropbox, & Drive uploads

Jordan Kahn Nov 11 2013 - 9:15 am PT

Back in May Google rolled out new contextual quick action buttons in Gmail that appeared next to messages in your inbox allowing users to, for example, quickly RSVP to an invitation or check-in to flights. Today Google announced on its Gmail blog that it’s rolling out even more quick action buttons in Gmail. One of the new buttons will allow users to rate and review restaurants and save Google Offers with a single click:

For example, you can rate and review restaurants you ordered from on Seamless and even modify OpenTable reservations—all without opening an email. And for the deal lovers out there, you can conveniently save a promotion from Google Offers with one click, making it easy to find and buy it when you’re ready.

Another new quick action button will allow YouTube and Vimeo uploaders to click a “View video” button next to emails in their inbox to jump right to viewing their finished uploads (pictured below). The same button will also appear for Dropbox, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
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Google Drive for iOS updated with multiple account support, printing

Mark Gurman Nov 7 2013 - 9:23 am PT

Following the significant revamp of Google’s iOS Search app earlier this week, the search company updated its Google Drive application for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with several new features.

What’s New in Version 2.1.0

– Multiple Account Support. You can now switch between personal, work, or any other Google account
– Single Sign In: Sign in once to Google Drive and you’ll automatically be signed in to apps like YouTube, Google Maps, Chrome, and G+
– Print your files now with Google Cloud Print or AirPrint
– iOS 7 Support

Notably, users can now have multiple accounts on Drive for iOS and the app supports single-sign-on across Google apps on iOS. Also new is increased compatibility for iOS 7 and printing either via AirPrint or Google Cloud Print.

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Google adds real time text cursors & improved themes to Slides

Jordan Kahn Nov 5 2013 - 12:08 pm PT

Google is making a few improvements to its Slides presentation tool in Google Drive today. The company announced a few new features for the web app including real-time text cursors and some user requested tweaks for the recently rolled out editable themes feature.

As you can see in the gif above, much like in Google Docs, you’ll now see contributors’ cursors with names in real-time as they type.

Google is also adding the ability to reuse a theme, add objects to themes and layouts, and update text styles in placeholders:

Reuse custom themes in new presentations

There may come a time when you want to reuse a theme that you worked hard to create, and now you can—just select “From another presentation…” in the theme chooser.

Add objects to themes and layouts

While editing a slide, you can now right click on any object and add it to a theme or a specific layout so that the next time you want to use it, it will already be part of the slide template.

Update text styles in placeholders

Let’s say you’re editing a body placeholder, and you change the font of your text (or other style properties, such as bold, color, etc.). You can now easily apply this formatting across slides that use the same layout by right clicking on the placeholder and selecting “Update in theme.”

Google Apps

Google adds handwriting input to Gmail and Google Docs via mouse & trackpad

Jordan Kahn Oct 22 2013 - 8:58 am PT

Google announced today on its Gmail blog that it is adding handwriting input functionality into Gmail and Google Docs for those that find it easier to draw characters than use a traditional keyboard. Both Gmail and Google Docs within Drive will allow users to draw single or multiple characters using a mouse cursor or their finger on a trackpad:

Gmail and Docs offer wide language support, however in some cases using the keyboard is less than ideal. Whether you’re a student trying to include a foreign phrase in your paper or an international consultant hoping to begin your message with a friendly local greeting, now you’ll be able to use your own handwriting to input words directly into Gmail and Google Docs

The feature is first rolling out for more than 20 languages in Google Docs and over 50 languages in Gmail, including many of the most requested languages for handwriting input such as Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, and Russian.

Here’s how to enable it:
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Google Apps

U.S. Army & DoD move to Google Apps to go mobile and reduce costs

Jordan Kahn Oct 22 2013 - 8:06 am PT

Google announced today on its Enterprise blog that the U.S. Army is the latest to go Google with a new program currently rolling out Google Apps and services to over 50k members of the Army and Department of Defense.

According to Google, driving the U.S. Army’s decision to adopt Google Apps is the ability to reduce IT costs and also run Apps on multiple platforms and operating systems through the Army’s existing security and authentication requirements. Another big motivator was the added advantage of Google’s mobile apps:
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Google Play Music adds ‘I’m Feeling Lucky Radio’ feature to automatically create stations based on listening history

Jordan Kahn Oct 17 2013 - 12:13 pm PT

Google is rolling out a nice little update to Google Play Music today on both Android and the web. On top of some slight UI tweaks and new “pin” icons added to cards, you’ll now find a “I’m feeling lucky radio” button at the top of Radio and Listen Now sections that provide users with a radio station based on their previous listening habits. You’ll also be able to save and share the station and save songs to another playlist.

The updated Google Play Music app should be hitting Google Play for your device shortly.

Google Slides updated w/ widescreen presentations & editable themes

Jordan Kahn Oct 9 2013 - 9:39 am PT

Google today announced that it’s rolling out a few new features to Slides, the company’s presentations app built into Google Drive. Among the new features is support for widescreen presentations, which will now be enabled by default:

Since the majority of monitors and displays are now widescreen, new presentations will be widescreen by default. You can change the size of your slides using the pull down menu in the theme chooser, or by visiting Page setup in the File menu.

Google is also including another highly requested feature that brings the ability to customize the preset fonts, colors backgrounds and more for themes:

One of your top requests has been to customize these presets throughout your presentation. With editable master slides, you can now easily tailor how content appears on every slide by selecting “Edit master” from the Slide menu. For example, you can set all of your header fonts to Alconica, make all of your first level bullets bold, and add a logo in the bottom right corner.

Google has a support doc available here that will walk you through everything you need to know about editing master slides and layouts for themes.

Google Apps

Google Cloud Platform simplifies server-side development for iOS w/ ‘Mobile Backend Starter’

Jordan Kahn Oct 9 2013 - 6:53 am PT

Google announced today on its Cloud Platform blog that it is rolling out its Google App Engine application called Mobile Backend Starter that first debuted for Android developers back in June. Google says the application helps to simplify the server-side development process for developers adding cloud services through Google Cloud Platform and it does so by providing Mobile Backend and Objective-C client libraries for everything from storing data in the cloud to sending device-to-device push notifications and authenticating Google accounts. In other words, it’s a ready-to-deploy, general purpose cloud backend along with Android and iOS clients with client-side framework classes. This allows devs to implement a number of cloud services into their apps without ever having to worry about coding those features themselves.

Optional server-side coding: Control your cloud service using Android and iOS client libraries.
Cloud Datastore: Store millions of objects in the cloud and manage them from your app.
Push Notifications: Send and broadcast objects as messages via Apple Push Notifications and Google Cloud Messaging.
Event Driven Programming: Create real-time interactive user experiences using Continuous Queries.
User authentication Authenticate users using Google Accounts.
Per-object access: Prevent users from accessing private data using our authentication model.
Built to scale: Mobile backend runs on App Engine infrastructure to scale to millions of users within hours (App Engine pricing applies).

Google is making the source code for the app available on Github for developers to freely play with, and that will include the source code for both the backend and iOS and Android clients. Google walked through the process of getting Mobile Backend Starter setup on an iPhone or iPad:

Getting Started

You can try out the Mobile Backend Starter on an iPhone or iPad in just a few steps (further details here):

1. Provision your backend on App Engine

2. Download the iOS client zip file (or clone from GitHub repository)

3. Run the sample on a physical device (note: the sample does not run on the iOS simulator)

You can learn more about Mobile Backend Starter for iOS here.

Google in talks to potentially acquire bits (or the entirety) of BlackBerry

Mike Beasley Oct 4 2013 - 5:54 pm PT

Reuters reports that Google is one of several companies currently considering a bid on part or all of Blackberry. The handset manufacturer has had a rough six years as they fell behind in the smartphone market to competitors like Apple and devices running Google’s Android operating system.

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Google Play Music ‘All Access’ for iOS reportedly landing this month following internal beta

Jordan Kahn Oct 3 2013 - 9:06 am PT

Since first announcing its Google Play Music ‘All Access’ streaming service earlier this year on Android, Google has been delaying the release of an official Google Play Music app for iOS for unknown reasons. Android chief Sundar Pichai originally said the app would be out in “the next few weeks” in May, but four months later we’ve yet to get an iOS app or access to the $9.99 month streaming service on iOS. Today, Engadget reports that Google is continuing to test the app internally and will launch it later this month:

Sources aware of Google’s plans have let slip to Engadget that not only is the company currently testing a native Google Music iOS app internally, but that it’ll launch later this month. We’re told that while employees have been invited to test the app, Google still needs to fix a few bugs before it’s ready for release… The company had previously closed the door on iOS users because Flash was needed to enforce DRM restrictions set by music labels. Now, Google appears to have overcome that issue and is nearly ready to launch.

Until the official app from Google launches, popular third-party clients like the gMusic app have been updated to support the “All Access” streaming service.
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Google rolling out colorful, streamlined design for Docs, Sheets, Slides & more in Google Drive

Jordan Kahn Sep 30 2013 - 2:14 pm PT

We already got a new Google Analytics app for Android today and the launch of its new Web Designer HTML5 design tool, and now Google has announced that it’s rolling out a new, cleaner look for Docs, Sheets, Slides and more in Google Drive on the web. Google explained that the new look brings a new streamlined header and more colorful and compact design for its online productivity suite:

First, you’ll notice each editor’s product icon displayed in the header, which doubles as a quick link back to all your files in Drive. Next, you’ll see that the header is more streamlined and compact, helping you to focus on what matters most—your content.

You’ll notice the changes in Docs, Sheets, and Slides (as pictured above), but also in Drawings, Forms and Apps Script.

Google launches beta of ‘Web Designer’ HTML5 design tool

Jordan Kahn Sep 30 2013 - 10:13 am PT

Google today announced that it is launching a public beta for its new Web Designer tool that allows users to build interactive ads and other HTML5 content. Google says that with HTML5 ad spend expected to overtake Flash spend within the next two years, it’s aiming to provide easy-to-use tools that will allow publishers to quickly and easily create and publish HTML5 ads:

We’re working hard to solve this development challenge by offering agencies powerful yet easy-to-use tools for HTML5 production. In this vein, we announced DoubleClick Studio Layouts for HTML5 back in August, which lets you create HTML5 ads in minutes, and last week we announced Ready Creatives in AdWords, which creates HTML5 ads for you in seconds. Today, we’re excited to announce the public beta of Google Web Designer, a new professional-quality design tool that makes HTML5 creative accessible to everyone from the designer to the dabbler.

Google walked through a few of the features of Web Designer in its blog post:

Create animated HTML5 creative, with a robust, yet intuitive set of design tools.
View and edit the code behind your designs and see your edits reflected back on the stage automatically.
Build ad creatives seamlessly for DoubleClick and AdMob, or publish them to any generic environment you choose.
Receive updates to the product automatically, without having to re-download the application.

It also noted that access to Web Designer will be free for all, at least for the time being.

The Web Designer beta is available to download on Google’s website. Google has a getting started guide here, and high-speed demo of an ad being created in the Web Designer beta is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHj7fqbNaQw&feature=youtu.be

Google’s mobile Gmail app is going to start showing ads

Seth Weintraub Sep 29 2013 - 7:14 am PT

Among other smaller additions, Android Police found a pretty big change coming to Google’s Gmail 4.6 App this week: Ads.

While El Goog hasn’t officially activated ads on mobile yet, the App is getting ready for them with a bunch of new code tailored around bringing ads to Gmail. Snippets are pasted below

<string name=”ad”>AD</string>
<string name=”ad_will_not_save”>Will not save ad as message</string>
<string name=”ad_will_save”>Will save ad as message</string>
<string name=”ad_dismissed”>Ad dismissed</string>

The above appears to suggest that you’ll be able to save ads as messages. Like an ad? Save it, and it’ll become part of your inbox. Don’t like it, and it’ll get dismissed. Very interesting, isn’t it?

To support ads, a whole brand new library was added called… ads:

com/google/android/gm/ads/

Inside, we have 8 classes, all related to ad presentation – toasts, teaser, sender header, ad header, ad border, and the ad view itself:

AdBorderItem

AdHeaderItem

AdHeaderView

AdSenderHeaderItem

AdSenderHeaderView

AdTeaserView

AdToastBarOperation

AdViewFragment

The likely move isn’t at all surprising and with Google popping ads disguised as email in Gmail tabbed interface and well, that’s how Google makes money. You didn’t think Gmail was really free, did you?
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Google Talk & Hangouts bug sends messages to the wrong recipients – Google investigating

Ben Lovejoy Sep 26 2013 - 4:55 am PT

Update 2, Sept. 27: Google is reporting that Google Talk issues have now bee resolved for all users.

Update, Sept. 27: Some users are continuing to experience issues with Google Talk services today. Google says it expects “a resolution for all users in the near future.”

TechCrunch alerted us to an issue with Google Talk and Google Hangouts, which is rather alarmingly resulting in some messages being delivered to the wrong recipients.

…
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Google beginning to refund unused Google Offers

Jordan Kahn Sep 25 2013 - 6:49 am PT

As noted by AllThingsD, Google has just started sending out notifications to customers letting them know that they will soon be receiving refunds for unused Google Offers. Offers, which are available through a standalone mobile app as well as the Google Maps and Google Wallet apps, used to force users to purchase coupons ahead of time, much like a Groupon service. Going forward, however, the Offers will act more like traditional coupons with users refunded the full cost of unused deals.

You’ll also be able an additional $4 if you opt for a Google Play credit:

An email from Google to an AllThingsD colleague this week gave her two options: Receive a refund for the full amount of two unused offers, or receive a Google Play credit for that amount, which never expires, plus an additional $4, which will expire in two years.

“Users can now easily discover and save Google Offers in the Maps app, Search, Wallet, and on sites around the Web, without having to purchase them in advance, so we’re refunding previously purchased offers that we believe haven’t been used,” a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement to AllThingsD.

Google apologizes for Gmail delivery issues, explains what happened

Benjamin Mayo Sep 24 2013 - 7:34 am PT

Google has apologized for Gmail delivery delays experienced by some users yesterday. Google says that whilst most messages were not affected, 29% of messages were delayed by a couple of seconds, with only 1.5% of messages being critically delayed, by as much as two hours. The issue lasted for about 8 hours, starting at around 5:30 am PST.

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Gmail and Google Drive affected by Google Apps downtime

Mike Beasley Sep 23 2013 - 9:45 am PT

Google Apps experienced some downtime today, bringing down Gmail and parts of Google Drive for about an hour. During the downtime, Google Apps customers were unable to send or recieve emails (or experienced delays in doing so) or use the docuement and slideshow creation tools.

Everything appears to be running smoothly now, however. Google has not yet said what caused the downtime.

Google Drive revamped for iOS with improved previewing, file sorting, searching

Mark Gurman Sep 5 2013 - 9:06 am PT

Google has redesigned its Google Drive application for iPad, and iPhone, and iPod touch to appear more in-line with the designs of the company’s other apps on iOS. The new design focuses on improved previewing of files, and it also includes improved management and sorting of files.

Also new is improved landscape editing support, copying links to files, and the overall sharing of files with other people.

The update also brings an enhanced focus on searching through files:

And last, we brought search to the forefront of the app so you can find the exact file you’re looking for, whether you’re on a small iPhone or a larger iPad. And remember, Drive search recognizes objects in your images and text in scanned documents. So the next time you’re looking for photos of that trip to the Statue of Liberty, just enter the phrase “Statue of Liberty” and your photos will appear – voilà!

The update is available for free on the App Store.

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Google Now updated with seven new features, from car rentals to TV shows

Ben Lovejoy Aug 22 2013 - 7:36 am PT

Google has updated the Android version of its Google Search app to include everything from directions to car rental pickup points to the music playing in the TV show you’re watching. Several of the updates are designed to make life easier when traveling, whether locally or further afield.

Car rentals card: Get reservation details and directions to the rental center directly in Google Now, which together with the boarding pass and hotel reservation cards, makes Google Now your ultimate travel companion.

Concert ticket card: Going to a concert? Google Now will have your event ticket ready when you arrive at the venue; along with popular, locally relevant websites, such as the upcoming events page for the venue.

Improved public transit cards: If you regularly take public transit, Google Now will now inform you about the last train or bus to home so you never miss it.

Commute sharing card: When leaving work, you can now choose to inform your loved ones that you are on your way home. Learn more at http://goo.gl/bVUkLY

Set reminders while you search: When searching for music artists, movie actors, filmmakers and TV shows on Google, you’ll see a new “remind me” button on the panel by the search results. Click on it and a Google Now reminder will show up for new albums, book releases or upcoming TV episodes.

Updated TV card: Google Now can tell you about the news mentioned and music playing in the TV show you’re watching, in addition to program information and people mentioned in show. Simply tap on the TV card if you have a smart TV or tap on the mic and say “listen to TV”.

NCAA football scores: Football season is about to start, and Google Now has you covered–you can now see real-time scores for your favorite NCAA team in Google Now.

Google Now is available from the Play Store. The iOS version of the app has not yet been updated.

Google launches server-side encryption for Cloud Storage at no charge to developers

Jordan Kahn Aug 15 2013 - 9:27 am PT

Google announced today on its Cloud Platform Blog that the data stored in its Cloud Storage platform will now be automatically encrypted before written to disk at no additional charge to developers. Google said the process will not involve any input or configuration from developers and that the new encryption will cause “no visible performance impact”:

We manages the cryptographic keys on your behalf using the same hardened key management systems that Google uses for our own encrypted data, including strict key access controls and auditing. Each Cloud Storage object’s data and metadata is encrypted with a unique key under the 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-128), and the per-object key itself is encrypted with a unique key associated with the object owner. These keys are additionally encrypted by one of a regularly rotated set of master keys.

Google noted that developers will still be able to encrypt data using their own methods and manage their own decryption keys, but from now on Google will free developers from the effort and cost associated with doing so. The new server-side encryption is active starting today for new data written to the platform, and Google says it will work with both new objects or for overwriting existing objects. It also said that “older objects will be migrated and encrypted in the coming months.”

In July, reports claimed that Google was also readying server-side encryption for files stored in its consumer-facing Drive cloud storage service.