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Google Calendar has a dead simple new way to share events
Everyone's sharing links these days, and now your events can too
In a time when virtually everything has a shareable link, from documents to video calls, Google Calendar has decided it doesn't want to be left behind. The software is now enhancing its capabilities by offering users the option to share events via direct links. This update promises to make coordinating and disseminating event information even more seamless for users.
Google may soon let you move video calls to your tablet or smart display
You may no longer need to disconnect and re-dial to move to a different device
One of the perks of Apple products is Continuity, which streamlines the use of software between Apple devices. For example, AirDrop lets you send media between Apple products within seconds. Handoff enables you to begin a project on one Apple device, and then continue working on a different one. Google has notably lagged in this area, often forcing Android device users to take multiple steps to achieve similar results. Now, some believe it could be working on a similar feature called Link Your Devices. If the rumors are true, you may soon be able to switch between Android products without skipping a beat — and this could be critical if you frequently use them for video calls.
You can share links directly from the Recents menu in Android 12 Beta 3
Copy or share URLs across all of Android
Sharing is everything these days. Whether you're sending a list of your favorite restaurants to a friend from out of town or just passing along the latest viral story, having quick access to all of your links is essential. With Android 12, Google is looking to make it a little faster to reach and share links, no matter your browser of choice.
YouTube for Android is getting better link sharing
Link to specific points in a video, so long as it has timestamped chapters
It hasn't been possible to easily share timestamped video links from the YouTube Android app, which is a bit of a pain if you're used to doing so from the desktop site. This is now something you can do, although there are some significant caveats — the video must include chapters, and you can only share timestamps corresponding to the start of each chapter, for now.
Google Photos has a new way to show who's looking at your pictures
It's a central hub for all the photos you've shared, or others have shared with you
Google has been pushing a lot more functionality into Photos as of late, even after it sunset its most popular feature by far. Check your app today: if the odds are in your favor, you might see a new entry on the bottom navigation bar. Don't get too excited though, it's just a direct link to some of the app's less obvious social features.
Google is jazzing up your shared Drive folders and shortcuts with a splash of color
Spend the weekend color-coding your old group documents
Google Drive's collaboration tools are second to none for document editing, especially since Docs, Sheets, and Slides are all available for free (mostly). Keeping track of files and folders can be tricky, especially since customization options are far more limited outside of personal content. With Drive's latest update, categorizing your shared content correctly just got a whole lot easier.
Android 12 will spell the end of third-party share sheet replacements
Google's latest attempt to hinder the sharing experience on Android
It's no secret that Google has struggled to implement a satisfactory share sheet in Android — you could say it's been one of the platform's weakest features. Even now, when I attempt to share something with a friend, I'm greeted by direct share targets of no use whatsoever. Either that or you get an app's custom sharing menu instead, with varying degrees of usefulness. Because of this inconsistent experience, many users like to replace the default share sheet using a third-party app like Sharedr. Unfortunately, as of Android 12, that's no longer going to be possible.
Google would really like you to start using its Photos print service, pretty please
You can now access the store right from the app's main homepage
Google Photos is one of the best cloud backup services you can find today, even if it's about to lose its most valuable feature. It's a great photo management tool, with or without unlimited free backups. If you already have your entire collection stored in Google's cloud, you should make sure you're taking advantage of all of the other tools available. Some new UI changes are coming to Photos that bring sharing and ordering prints into the spotlight.
Google takes small step to protect privacy of Forms responses
Personal accounts now cannot transfer ownership of their Google Forms
Google Forms has become one of the easiest ways to sign people up to activities, studies, and interviews or to gauge opinions on whether it'll be Italian, barbecue, or sushi for the party next week. But all those responses — including the private bits — is at risk when it all gets put with one person. Google has now decided to restrict who can transfer ownership of their form and the data that comes with it.
G Suite globally rolls out sharing folders in shared drives
It's kind of crazy this wasn't available before now
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- The functionality has now exited beta and is globally rolling out to users. For now, it's available through Drive's web interface, API, File Stream desktop app, and mobile apps. It will also be natively integrated with ChromeOS' file system soon. The Commenter role was also added to folders in My Drive, to better align shared drives and My Drive.
Google Drive is a cloud storage product that everyone from single users, to enterprises, to educational facilities can use. Recently, Google cleaned up the sharing interface and made it a little nicer for everyday use. Now the company is testing a feature that lets G Suite users share folders that are stored in shared drives, adding a bit more flexibility and privacy controls to the cloud storage.
Right now, sharing individual pictures from your Google Photos account is a hassle because each picture has to be its own album. But for sane people, they'd rather have it a simpler way. After lots of work and tailoring, Google has responded with a private, in-app conversation client for users to share any number of photos and videos one-on-one or with certain groups.
One of the worst features in Android for a few years now has been the Sharesheet, the UI that pops up when you hit the share button in an app. In trying to offer you the most convenient and contextual sharing options every time it loads, the menu became incredibly slow and would infuriatingly update as you were about to make a selection. Google made some changes in Android 10 that have resulted in a better, faster sharing experience.
Hold your collective breath, people... Google is using some sort of logic to order the Share menu on Android Q Beta 4! I kid not. After the many messes we've seen the Share menu go through, I'm just really incredibly happy that there's a sense to the madness now. Whether you agree that an alphabetical list is the best way to order the menu or not, it doesn't matter. At least there's a clear order now.
The latest update to Gboard is making the rounds, and this one appears to be taking another stab at enabling the clipboard manager. Meanwhile, this update also sets the stage for additional features to be added to the overflow menu, an improved Japanese keyboard, a Pixel-specific theme, and more.
Slowly but surely, Chrome is trying to converge native and web apps. Chrome 71 came out a few days ago on Android, but one new feature flew under the radar — web apps can now appear in the system share menu.
Friday evening brought us another update to the Google app. Unlike the previous version, there are a fair number of topics to discuss from a teardown. Google is preparing a screen for viewing your image searches from Lens, Collection sharing, a few changes to the layout of settings, and there are even hints of a mystery feature named Workspaces.
Google Lens, the app that makes you search the visual world around you as easily as if you were typing a couple of words on a computer, has received an update recently to v1.1 that adds a new sharing intent. This makes it even easier and more practical to find things with Lens.
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- The Inbox Chrome extension now seems to have disappeared from the Web Store, rather ominously.
Even though Inbox by Gmail has always been a testing ground for Google's main email client, many users now prefer it — myself included. It was already dismaying to see the removal of certain snooze options (place and someday) in June, but now it looks like the 'Save to Inbox' sharing option on Android has been axed as well.
While new information keeps rolling out of Google I/O, some of the recently announced things are creeping out in various forms. After the keynote, we've been expecting some enhancements to Google Photos, and the latest update contains new text that makes it look pretty likely that we'll be getting them soon. There's also a subtle clue that may suggest we'll soon get to lock up some of our photos or albums and access them with a fingerprint.
Sharing from one app to another has been a mainstay of Android for years and years. It was one of the features that first drew me to Android: no more copying and pasting, no more having to open Twitter or WhatsApp to send a picture I just saw in my Gallery. Apps could talk to each other and the experience felt cohesive and seamless.