Google adds quick-side panel to Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings to make G Suite users more productive.

Google added a quick-side panel to its productivity suite with the objective of making G Suite users more productive. The quick-side panel will allow users to do their job without leaving Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings. Three Google products will be available within these apps and they are google Calendar , keep and Tasks. So far, the side panel has been available in Gmail. This update brings the same feature to Google Calendar where users will be able to use Keep and Tasks, thanks to the side panel.

The update is rolling out now and G Suite users will start seeing it within 15 days.

Source: Google

Google updates Docs, Sheets and Slides with new formatting tools.

                

Google has updated its productivity suite today and in case you’ve never considered Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, you should do so for the very simple fact that they are free to use on any Android device. Of course, they do not offer the powerful features found in Microsoft Office, but what makes Google products interesting are their simplicity of use and collaborative features.

In this update, Google added the following features:

Google Docs: Easily format tables, images and drawings with new toolbar items.

Google Sheets: Easily format images and shapes with new toolbar items.

Google Slides: Easily format images and shapes with new toolbar items. 

These features are already available in the Android version of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but if you’re a Google user, you will find these new formatting features useful.

Insert videos in Google Slides from Google drive and YouTube.

Today, Google made it possible to insert videos in presentations from Google Drive and YouTube. After inserting the videos in Google Slides, users will have the option to choose when to start or end the video; whether the video should auto-play when presenting. Additionally, users will also have the option to mute or play the video with audio by doing right-click on the video and choosing Video options. 

Inserted videos can be played both on the web or a mobile device. However, inserting videos to Google Slides is only supported on the web. For those viewing the presentation and do not have permission to view the embedded video, can always request request access.

Google Docs, Sheets, Slides updated with Page setup, IMAGE function and more.

Happy New Year dear readers. I hope all went well for you during the Holidays seasons. Now that the party is over and we're all back to work, here's an update to Google Suite of productivity apps available for download in Google Play Store.

Google Docs and Sheets got some new features. Docs now lets users change the orientation, paper size and color in Page setup. A new IMAGE function in Sheets will display images inside cells.

This update also adds some new features in terms of new files support with Docs now capable of exporting files in EPUB format and OpenDocument Text (.odt). Docs will also handle the import of .odt files. Slides will also support the same features.

Before heading to Google Play Store to download the update, note that these features are only available when the device has a data connection.

Download:

• Google Docs
  
• Google Sheets
  
• Google Slides

Google Docs, Sheets & Slides gets improved comment notifications on Android and web.

Google Docs, Sheets and Slides received an update today that makes it easier to interact with comment notifications made by colleagues or friends on your documents. Prior to this update, notifications were sent as emails. This update, which works on Android devices and web browsers, will let you respond quickly. These notifications will appear based on your settings on the device and Drive settings for the browser.

Check out the updates in Google Play store:

• Google Docs
• Google Sheets
• Google Slides

Google Slides gets Q&A feature and turns your mouse as a laser pointer.

Google is adding an excellent feature to Google Slides that will let presenters accept questions from their audience right on their computers, Android mobile devices and iOS devices. In order to start a Q&A session on an Android device, follow the steps in the help section. The link also provides step-by-step instructions for the PC and iOS device as well.

Check out the video below to see how the feature works:


As a bonus, Google is also turning your mouse into a laser pointer that can be used in slides on the web. Choose the laser pointer option from the toolbar, and a red dot will appear on the screen and move along with your mouse so your audience knows where to look.

The update is gradually rolling out in Google Play store.

Source: Google

Google adds support for more file formats in Google Sheets and Slides for Android.

No doubt Google is hard at work adding features to its productivity suite. A new update is available for Google Sheets and Slides Android apps after last week's update that brought expiration dates to shared documents.

In Sheets, users will be able to send a copy or save a spreadsheet as an HTML web page and this can be done right from the Share & Export menu. The saved files are provided in a .zip folder. Google also made it possible to save a sheet as Comma Separated Values (.CSV) and Tab Separated Values (.TSV). Google Sheets will also let you view Google Drawings in your spreadsheets, except that those drawings won't be visible if you happen to have frozen rows and columns on your sheets.

Google Slides only got one useful update which let users "send a copy  of or download the slide you're currently viewing as a .JPEG, .PNG, or .SVG file from the Share & export menu."

Both Google Sheets and Google Slides are available free on Google Play.

Source: Google

Google will soon let you set expiration dates on files in Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides.

As a System Admin, I get to work with various people internally and externally, the latter being either colleagues from other regions or contractors, but in both cases accounts must be created and access to company resources granted to outsiders. It can be tedious for contractors working on a particular time limited project because it is so easy to forget to remove access after the projects is complete. Enter expiration date.

In an upcoming update to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides, Systems Admins will be able to set expiration date for specific user access to files in one of the above-mentioned apps. The scenario is quite simple. If a project lasts a month, you will be able to grant access to contractor for the duration of the project. After completion of the project, access to the file will be automatically denied to contractor if he/she tries to access it again. However, according to Google, "you’ll only be able to set expiration dates for users with comment or view access; you will not be able to set expiration dates for file owners or users with edit access."

Note that this "expiration date" feature is intended for business only and will not be available until mid- to late Q2 2016.

Source: Google

Google lets you enable/disable notifications settings in Docs, Sheets & Slides; view named ranges in Sheets.

Back in November, Google introduced a new mobile notification feature for when files on Google Drive were shared with you or someone requested access to a file you own. The notifications can be enabled/disabled with the settings of Drive. With today's update, Google now lets you change the notifications  in the settings of Google Docs, Sheets and Slides for Android. The notifications settings still applies to all of the Google productivity tools and cannot be toggled individually.

In addition to notifications, Google is bringing Named Ranges to Sheets for Android. Don't get too excited as you will only be able to view those named ranges that you created in Google Sheets on the web. Just in case you don't know, named ranges let you give a name to a range of cells for easier tracking or when creating formulas.

Check out the updates in Google Play Store. They may not available in every region yet.

Source: Google 

Google adds templates to its productivity suite: Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.

                       

Google has finally made templates available for its productivity apps. Google Docs, Slides and Sheets now let you start your creations using built-in templates that are accessible by tapping the "New" button. For Docs and Sheets, you get to select diverse templates including themes like Resumes, Letters, Education and Work. Simply choose the template you need and you're presented with one with the layout, picture placement, paragraphs, proper headings, fonts already set for you. Remove the template text - which by the way is not Latin and does not mean anything at all, so your translator is not broken - and get started adding your own text.

Check out the updates in the Play store:

• Google Docs
• Google Sheets
• Google Slides

Google updates its productivity suite.

Your Android device is a great productivity tool and Google knows that. The company is regularly updating its productivity suite adding new features to make our lives easier. This week, Google Docs, Sheets and Slide were updated. The first two received some welcome additions while Slides got some bug fixes and unknown improvements.

Who doesn't use documents. Everyone does. With that in mind, Google updated Docs with search. Users will be able to do search right within Docs, no need to leave the app to start Google Search and switch back to Docs. Multitasking within Docs is certainly going to enhance your productivity. And google did not stop there as it made the formatting tools available right when you need them. Last in the change log is the customary bug fixes and performance improvements. Up next is Google Sheets.

Data crunchers or eaters will love this update to Google Sheets which will let them "visualize trends and understand data with automatically created charts and insights." Remember those frustrating moments when you tried to make an individual word bold in a cell and the formatting tool would stubbornly apply it to the entire text? That's behind us now. Sheets will let you apply formatting to individual word in cells easily. 

One of the most tedious task in Sheets is data entry, very often typing the same data. Sure copy/paste helps, but it is not a perfect solution. Enter drop downs which lets you choose cell contents based on data you already entered in above cells. Microsoft Excel users have been using this for years, as well as suggested formulas that can be inserted with a tab.

Head over to Google Play Store to update Docs, Sheets and Slides:

• Google Docs
• Google Sheets
• Google Slides