U-M Google Updates

Google Calendar SMS Notifications Ending

11/28/2018

Google has announced that starting January 7, 2019, SMS notifications from Google Calendar will no longer be available. Calendar will still offer in-app notifications, regardless of your device or connection.

If you had previously been receiving Calendar notifications via SMS, they’ll be replaced with in-app and email notifications. You’ll see these notifications:

  • As event notifications in a web browser that has Calendar open or a mobile device if you have the Google Calendar app for Android or iOS.
  • In an email if you had set up SMS notifications for new events, changed events, canceled events, or event responses.

Google will also be making some changes to the Calendar API to support this change. Check out the Google Developers’ page to learn more.

Gmail Offline Chrome App Removed

11/28/2018

Google has heard feedback that people want to use the same Gmail app whether they’re online or off. A new offline feature makes that possible, allowing you to search, write, delete, and archive up to 90 days of messages, even when you don’t have an internet connection.

This native capability is easier to use and performs better than the Gmail Offline Chrome app, so Google is removing it from the Chrome Web Store after December 3, 2018. This is part of Google’s ongoing effort to move Chrome apps to the web.

In preparation, we recommend the following to use Gmail offline:

  1. Enable Gmail offline in the Gmail settings.
  2. Uninstall the Gmail Offline Chrome app (instructions included in the link in step 1).

To access Gmail while offline, use a Chrome web browser (v61 or higher).
Note: Gmail offline is only available in the new Gmail.

New Team Drives Role and Names

10/17/2018

A new “Content Manager” role is coming to Team Drives. Along with this new role, Google will also update the names of the existing Team Drives membership roles. New names for roles in Team Drives will start to appear on October 17, 2018. The new role will start to become active on October 22, 2018. 

Here’s what to look for and what to expect:

New Names for Existing Team Drives Roles

The existing roles for Team Drives members will get new names:

  • “Full Access” will now be known as “Manager.” 
  • There will also be a new role, “Content Manager.” See below for more details. 
  • “Edit Access” will now be “Contributor.” 
  • “Comment Access” will now be “Commenter.” 
  • “View Access” will now be “Viewer.” 

See the Google Learning Center to learn more about roles and permissions in Team Drives.

Content Manager: A New Team Drives Role 

The Content Manager role will be able to edit, reorganize, and delete content in a Team Drive, but won’t be able to modify Team Drive membership or settings. The Content Manager role will replace “Full Access” as the default for new Team Drive members. Google Drive File Stream users may also make use of the Content Manager role, as it will make it easier to manage Team Drive files through the computer’s file system or the Google Drive web interface. 

Here is a breakdown of the roles in Team Drives and what they are able to do:

Previous Role New Role Permission and Abilities
Full Access Manager

Can manage membership, edit, upload, move, and delete files.
 

Content Manager

Can edit, upload, move, and delete Team Drive content, but they won’t be able to modify Team Drive membership or settings.

Edit Access

 Contributer Can edit, upload, share, and restore files/folders.
Comment Access

Commenter

 Can view and comment on files/folders.
View Access Viewer Can only view files/folders.

REMINDER: New Gmail Becomes Permanent Starting Today

10/16/2018

As first communicated on August 14, Google announced the new Gmail cutover dates. This is a reminder that according to Google, beginning today, Tuesday, October 16, everyone will start to be permanently migrated to new Gmail, and the “classic Gmail” interface will no longer be available. This should slowly roll out to the UMICH domain today, and over the next few weeks.

New features include:

  • Smart replies (similar to the Gmail mobile version)
  • The option to snooze emails (as with Google Inbox)
  • A new tool panel on the right side of the interface for easy access to Tasks (also revamped) and Calendar

Reminder: Convert Google Classic Sites to New Sites

10/15/2018

As first announced July 18, Google has an automatic migration tool to transfer from Google classic Sites to new Sites. Although Google has not yet announced a date to end classic Sites, we strongly encourage you to begin converting your classic Sites. This will help avoid a last minute rush and possible loss of your Sites content. A new Site can either be published to the URL of the classic Site (replacing it) or published to a new URL.

You can use the Help Center to find out more about how to convert a classic Site to a new Site and what to expect when you convert a site.