Google Docs is widely regarded as one of the most convenient word-processing solutions on Android, Chrome OS, and the web. Google keeps Docs abreast with UI design changes and smart canvas improvements which help enhance productivity. Docs is now picking up another smart canvas feature called variable chips — smart chips which work like placeholders for items you edit frequently.
If you’ve worked with templates on Word, Docs, or any other word processor, you are probably familiar with the arduous task of replacing every bit of placeholder text in the document. Errors could prove costly, like when you accidentally reuse a job application letter but forget to change the designation to match. Google Docs’ variable smart chips can make this a problem of the past.
Using smart variable chips is simple
The new smart canvas feature lets you define a smart chip as a variable with any name. When you edit the variable’s value, it is changed across the document. So, you could define a variable like “company name” in your job application letter and when you change the variable value to “Android Police,” the change is applied wherever the variable is used.
If you plan to reuse the same variables in other documents, you can use another smart canvas feature, and make a custom building block comprising regular text and variable chips. This block is now reusable across your documents. Together, these two features make it very easy to create, update, and reuse templates, especially if you’re working with one kind of document day in, day out.
Disappointingly, Google is limiting this feature’s rollout only to certain Workspace accounts — Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Nonprofits. This means personal Google accounts cannot enjoy this smart chips feature. Hopefully, Google stops trying to decide for us which features are enterprise-grade and which aren’t. However, we can imagine this addition making a Workspace subscription seem like better value for certain businesses.