Google has announced a major update to its G Suite business package, which will now be called ‘Google Workspace’. Google is introducing new integrations between its various office apps.
Google Workspace
G Suite is no more, and welcome Google Workspace. Apps like Google Docs, Gmail, Meet and Calendar are now under the wing of the new Workspace for paying business users. Google is coming up with new functions for its various office services that mainly revolve around smart integrations of the various apps. Google is mainly looking at the desktop version of the apps for this, and the company is talking about the end of the classic office as we know it today. The Verge.
To work more efficiently
We’ve actually already seen the first principles of Workspace with the integration of Google’s Meet video conferencing service into Gmail. The intention is that you have to open a new tab with fewer actions.
For example, you can create a new Google Document directly in Google Chat, the service that keeps you in touch with colleagues. This way you don’t have to go to Documents first to open a link. If you refer to a presentation in that document, you can preview that slide show directly from Documents without opening Slides. In Google Chat you will also be able to do more with ‘@ mentions’, because you will also be able to place it in a document to immediately involve the right people. At the very bottom of this article, you’ll find three GIFs that showcase some of these integrations.
New icons
It is of course not the intention that you will do all your work from one tab with Google Chat or Gmail open, but the improvements should ensure that you can work more smoothly without unnecessary extra steps. We currently do not have an overview of all the improvements and integrations that await us and for the time being, the changes for the mobile apps remain very limited. We already got an integration of Google Meet in Gmail and Google Tasks also recently got a place in Calendar. Nothing is yet known about other updates for the mobile apps.
It is also striking that Google has also tinkered with the icons of its services, and we get to see the familiar Google colors. The biggest change, it must be said, is for Gmail, because the envelope makes way for a more minimalist logo with the letter ‘M’.
Availability
Google states that it will roll out the first new features of Workspace to business users starting today. Although the biggest improvements will only arrive in the coming weeks and months. Later on, the improvements will also flow to the apps for non-business users, but we are not yet told when that will be the case.
It seems that with Workspace, Google has now really declared battle against Microsoft Office, which previously announced new improvements based on integrations between its services. You can tap on the gifs below to get acquainted with a number of integrations.
