Google Slides

71 'Google Slides' stories October 2014 - August 2019

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Google Slides is the newest of the three original document editing apps. After an acquisition earlier that year, it was launched as Google Presentations in September of 2007 Slides was renamed and joined the Google Drive umbrella in June 2012.

Like Docs and Sheets, Slides features document collaboration and sharing with a number of other users. It also full offline editing, slide effects, and final projects can be downloaded in a number of formats. Users can also present their presentations from the web. Companion Android and iOS apps allow users to edit while on the go.

Google Material Theme revamp rolls out to Docs, Sheets, and Slides for Android

Abner Li Aug 9 2019 - 12:00 am PT

Google Drive

Google Drive on the web was one of the very first services to get the Material Theme treatment in 2018, with the Android and iOS clients following this April. The homepages for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides were updated in February, with a similar Google Material Theme revamp now available for the Android apps.

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Google Docs will now highlight what account you’re signed in with

Abner Li Jul 9 2019 - 9:49 am PT

Google Drive Docs

One longstanding complaint among Google users on the web is how being logged in with both personal and G Suite accounts results in a confusing file launch process. Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides will now display a prominent prompt about what account you’re signed in with.

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Google Slides

Google Slides adds keyboard shortcuts to control live presentations

Abner Li Jun 18 2019 - 2:02 pm PT

Google Slides is adding two new features that make it easier to give a live presentation. New keyboard shortcuts aid in faster navigation through a deck, while “Present mode” can be resized to make slide previews bigger.

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G Suite Google Docs

Google Docs, Slides adds ‘Linked objects’ tool to update embedded charts, graphs

Abner Li May 24 2019 - 8:32 am PT

The apps in Google’s office suite are linked together to improve workflows and productivity. Google has now added a new “Linked objects” sidebar in Docs and Slides to “access all linked content” and quickly update them.

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Focals smart glasses

Focals smart glasses now integrate with Google Fit and Slides

Abner Li May 22 2019 - 12:29 pm PT

Focals by North launched at the start of this year, but quickly saw a price cut from $999 to $599. Since then, the plain-looking smart glasses that overlay a screen over your right eye has seen a number of new features. The latest includes Google Fit and Google Slides integration.

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Google Drive Docs

Activity dashboard in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides adds sharing history, comment stats

Abner Li Apr 11 2019 - 1:01 pm PT

Last year, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides introduced an Activity dashboard to provide stats and easily see who has viewed a document. The three G Suite apps are now adding sharing history and comment analytics.

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Google Slides adding audio

Google Slides adds support for playing MP3, WAV audio files in presentations

Abner Li Apr 2 2019 - 9:04 am PT

Earlier this year, Google Slides and other Drive applications were revamped with the Material Theme on the editor and web homepage. Slides is now gaining the ability to insert and play audio files during presentations.

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Google Drive Docs

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides homepages updated with Material Theme tweaks

Abner Li Feb 26 2019 - 6:20 pm PT

For most users, Google Drive is their primary homepage when interacting with the web suite of productivity apps. However, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides on the web also have dedicated homepages, with all three recently gaining Material Theme tweaks.

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Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides rolling out Google Material Theme redesigns on the web

Abner Li Jan 15 2019 - 1:21 pm PT

Google Material Theme

Google Drive was one of the first web apps to adopt the Google Material Theme last May and now a similar redesign is rolling out to the core Docs, Sheets, and Slides productivity services on the web, as well as Google Sites.

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Google Drive

Activity dashboard in Google Docs, Sheets, & Slides updated w/ Google Material Theme

Abner Li Oct 29 2018 - 12:26 pm PT

Earlier this year, Google introduced an Activity dashboard in Docs, Sheets, and Slides that allowed users to easily keep track of file history. Like Google Drive, it’s now gaining the Google Material Theme with a redesigned interface on the web.

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Google Slides gains automated real-time subtitles when presenting

Abner Li Oct 8 2018 - 10:06 am PT

Google Drive

In theory, slides should only convey the key points of a presentation and are not the presenter’s words verbatim. However, having a word-for-word transcript can be useful, especially for those that are hard of hearing. Google Slides is now adding real-time closed captions to help with accessibility.

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Google Drive

Google Slides adds support for inserting slides into Google Docs, new guides and rulers, more

Justin Duino Apr 18 2018 - 8:58 pm PT

To better compete with Microsoft Office, Google is continually adding new features to its suite of apps within Google Drive. This time around, Google Slides is getting an update that adds new guides and rulers to make it easier to format a slide, the ability to add a single slide and place it into a Google Doc, and more.

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Google Drive

Copied Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides can soon include comments, suggestions

Abner Li Nov 8 2017 - 11:38 am PT

Following a very useful tweak to the image picker earlier this week, Google Drive is getting another small, but noticeable feature. Copying a document will soon include the option to bring over the original file’s comments and suggestions.

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Google Slides updated with third-party Add-ons, Google Keep integration, and more

Abner Li Sep 27 2017 - 8:59 am PT

Google Slides is getting a number of major updates today, with third-party Add-ons being the most notable. Today’s suite of updates also brings features already found in other G Suite apps, like Google Keep integration and the ability to link files, to Slides.

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Google Slides receives big update w/ audience Q&A feature, new iOS presentation options, more

Abner Li May 4 2016 - 11:48 am PT

Google’s web-based alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint is getting a big update today that adds the ability for members of the audience to easily ask questions during a presentation. Additionally, Google Slides is adding more presentation options on iOS and a cool laser pointer tool.

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Ability to download individual Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for offline editing now rolling out

Abner Li Apr 18 2016 - 6:17 pm PT

In 2013, Google Drive addressed one of the biggest advantages of Microsoft Office: offline access and editing. With this feature enabled, Docs, Slides, and Sheets effectively becomes a native application. An update starting today will allow users to select specific files to store and edit without an internet connection.

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Google Docs apps add much-needed iPad Pro support, but still lack iOS 9 multitasking

Zac Hall Mar 8 2016 - 10:08 am PT

Google is on a roll lately with readying its iOS apps for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro announced last September and released last November.

Google’s YouTube app gained native resolution two weeks ago, but lacked iOS 9 multitasking features like Split View and Picture-in-Picture, then yesterday we saw Google Photos update with iPad Pro support in an update that actually includes Split View and Slide Over features.

Now it’s the Google Docs apps turn, at least to start, as the latest version of Google Docs for iOS adds native resolution support for the iPad Pro.

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Google Drive apps add support for templates on Android and iOS

Abner Li Dec 15 2015 - 2:20 pm PT

In September, to coincide with the beginning of the school year, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides added the ability to use a template to start a document. Previously restricted to the web, an update rolling out starting today adds the same ability to Android and iOS apps.

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Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Keep get new features on Android

Jordan Kahn Oct 28 2015 - 2:07 pm PT

Google is today rolling out updates to its Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Keep apps that add a handful of new features for Android users.

First up, the Sheets app now allows users to view more content on the screen by automatically hiding “toolbars and headers so that you can see more of your content on the screen at one time.” And you’ll notice the toolbars and headers reappear when you sign to scroll up or zoom out.

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Google Slides presentations can now be shared over Hangouts video call

Stephen Hall Aug 5 2015 - 7:38 pm PT

Google has announced today that, thanks to a recent update to Google Slides, users can now quickly and easily share their presentations over Hangouts video call.

Google Slides helps you share your big ideas with the world, but sometimes presenting these ideas can be challenging. In June, Slides added support for Chromecast and Airplay, which made it easier to project your slides on the big screen. Now there’s another new way to share your work: easy presenting to Hangouts video calls. Teammates, partners, clients and classmates can see your ideas, even if they’re on the other side of the planet.

As you can see in the below video, all you need to get started is an Android phone or tablet. Tapping the play button along the top bar of the app will let you present to a new video call or one that’s already ongoing.

Google updates Google Docs Android apps with improved editing features, faster loading

Ben Lovejoy Apr 16 2015 - 5:40 am PT

Google has updated its Android apps for editing Google documents on the move. Google Docs now allows you to accept, reject or comment on suggestions, as well as track changes and comments in Word files; Google Sheets lets you move, resize and delete spreadsheets; and Google Slides now offers you the ability to reorder objects on slides.

Google said that PowerPoint presentations will also be faster to load and scroll.

The company previously updated Google Docs with improvements to its Office Compatibility Mode. All three apps are a free download from the Google play store.

Google Drive and related apps experiencing outage for some users (update)

Zac Hall Oct 27 2014 - 9:03 am PT

Google Drive and some related services are currently experiencing issues for some users, according to Google.

We’re investigating reports of an issue with Google Drive. We will provide more information shortly.
Affected users will notice 500 errors and latency.

The same service issues apply to Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides, which each have the same error message from Google. The notice was first posted at 8:20 AM PST.

Update 9:20 AM PST: We are continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by 10/27/14 1:30 PM detailing when we expect to resolve the problem.

Update 11:18 AM PST: Our team is continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by 10/27/14 3:30 PM with more information about this problem. Thank you for your patience.

Update: Google says the issue has been resolved and has released the following statement on the matter:

The problem with Google Drive should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better.