U-M Google Updates

Google announced that it will discontinue its Apps Script UI Service on July 15, 2019.

Apps Script is a development platform used to create applications that integrate with G Suite. Only the UI service is being discontinued. Apps Script will remain available. We have notified affected U-M users based on a list we received from Google. This is a general announcement to deter any further use of the UI service. 

Google deprecated the Apps Script UI Service in December, 2014. Any projects using the Apps Script UI Service will cease to function starting July 15. While Google has no direct migration process for existing UI service projects, Google App Maker can be used to create applications in G Suite and can create similar UI applications.

Google is finally bringing its new material design and look to Gmail on mobile.

You can quickly view attachments without opening or scrolling through the conversation. It’s also easier to switch between multiple accounts, so you can access all of your emails with a few taps.

The search button has been replaced with a more prominent search bar at the top of the screen.

Finally, similar to the browser interface, Gmail now alerts you with a red warning banner when something looks phish-y.

Google announced that they began rolling out the new interface on January 29, but have no estimate for when the update will be completed. They have communicated that the rollout will be “potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility”. Some in the U-M community have already seen this change, while others have not. For more information, visit Google’s update announcement.

Interested in our latest updates about Google G Suite at U-M? Check out the Google Service Updates page.

Google has announced that after March 7, notifications for Google web products—Google+, Google Photos, and Hangouts Chat—will no longer be accessible from the navigation bar under the notification icon:

Interested in our latest updates about Google G Suite at U-M? Check out the Google Service Updates page.

What’s changing 

In May 2019, Google will make changes to some settings in Google Groups. In response to feedback, Google is updating the settings to manage and configure groups. Specifically, they will remove those settings that are rarely used and combine those that are similar. These changes will affect Groups at groups.google.com (including U-M Discussion Groups) and the APIs used to manage groups.

Note: Even when using a UMICH email account, it is possible to have a Group on the consumer domain. To determine a Group’s domain, check the URL: 

• groups.google.com is the consumer domain
• groups.google.com/a/discussions.umich.edu is U-M Discussion Groups in the UMICH domain

These updates may change how groups can be accessed and used. Use this Help Center article to see details of these changes and how you can prepare for the update. According to Google, the changes will start to roll out on May 6 and may take up to 15 days to reach all groups.

Why you’d take action 

Some who are not group owners or group managers but who currently have access to specific group management features may lose that access. 

When the new settings take effect:

• Existing group settings will be updated. 
• Group owners will still be able to change the settings. 
• New groups will have the updated settings. 

Additional details

In the next few days, you may see an in-product message about the upcoming changes when you use Groups. The message will direct you to the Google Help Center for an overview of the changes and change timeline.
 

Google is adding more options to the right-click context menu in Gmail.

Using these new options, you can get more things done with a simple right-click on an email.

Some of these options include:

• Reply to, or forward, an email in one click from the main page
• Search for all emails from a sender
• Search for all emails with the same subject
• Open multiple emails in multiple new windows at the same time
• Easily add a label or move an email

Google has announced this feature will start to roll out on February 22 and may take up to 3 days to reach all users.

Interested in our latest updates about Google G Suite at U-M? Check out the Google Service Updates page.