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Oh horror! October is already over! Halloween brought the month to a spooky close and has now set the stage for November. We take a look back at the past month and the new features that have made their way into Google Workspace.

You'll find a guaranteed horror atmosphere in this wonderful video by our colleague “Marketing Max", who really got dressed up for the Google Workspace updates in October! In this blog article, we will link you to the relevant parts of the video, so you can also just take a quick look if you are particularly interested in specific updates. Either way, let's take a look at whether Google Workspace has brought us trick-or-treaters!

Bloody Mary? Yesterday’s news. Today: Beautiful Meet!

Do you know Bloody Mary? We're not talking about the alcoholic drink, but the modern myth that becomes popular around Halloween. Legend has it that a ghost will appear in a mirror if a person says "Bloody Mary" three times in front of it. Whether it's scary, magic or humbug - the legend is simply part of Halloween.

Speaking of magic - since the latest October update, Google Meet no longer requires magic to link video tiles! With just two clicks, you can pin another participant's tile to yours so that you are displayed next to each other. This feature can be particularly useful if you are giving shared presentations or if an interpreter is involved.

Google Meet now also supports the display of 1080p cameras in group meetings. If you have such a camera, you and your colleagues can now enjoy high-resolution videos. Previously, this was only possible in one-to-one meetings.

The high resolution not only ensures razor-sharp images in group meetings, but also in recordings. Since October, presented documents have also been saved and displayed in full HD. However, this does not apply to video tiles, which are limited to 720p.

Need a meeting room at a moment's notice? You can now book it via Google Meet hardware! This prevents confusion due to room overlaps - or colleagues bursting in in the middle of a sales pitch.

Darkness, demons, documents

Okay, admittedly, with Google Docs you don't have to fear darkness or demons. On the contrary, Google Docs is getting new features that make it even more user-friendly and useful. One of these is direct access to building blocks: as soon as you open a new document, this small menu will always be displayed from now on. The building block suggestions can help you to spice up your document or optimise it in other ways.

In addition, you can now conveniently answer access requests for documents in the Android app. This was not possible before!

Killer Communication - Updates for Google Chat, Google Sheets and Google Slides

As we all know, communication is the be-all and end-all. That's why many changes in the Google Workspace update are aimed at communication in all its forms and colours. This includes the new option to generate links to selected chat messages. This way, you can always make sure that everyone is referring to the same message.

In addition, it is now also possible to respond with emojis in comments in Google Sheets and Google Slides. This function has already been available in Google Docs for some time.

In Google Slides, you can now also show and hide the cursors of the people working with you in the presentation. This means you can also use Google Slides as a digital whiteboard and have a better overview of what your colleagues are currently doing on the board.

Catacombs, crows, calendar

Okay, you shouldn't really be in for any shocks in your Google calendar - even if it might sometimes send shivers down your spine when you see the number of appointments you have. What awaits you as a welcome new feature is the "Appointment slots" display option: this allows your customers to see the time slots in which they can book a consultation appointment with you, for example.

The guest list for calendar invitations has also been given a new look. Instead of all the guests' email addresses, you will now see the names of the participants, provided they are your employees or contacts.

Bonus: Tip of the month

Did you know that you can create and save a meeting note for an appointment in Google Calendar in no time at all? In this short tutorial, Max shows you how to do this and how to make the most of the function.

Stay up to date with Google updates

That was a lot of news and improvements in the spooky Halloween edition! Which of the functions would you like to try out right away? If you want to get an even better idea of the updates, you can watch Max's six-minute video below:

We would love it if you like the video and subscribe to our Google YouTube channel to stay up to date!

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Further Reading

• September Shake-Up: Google Workspace Updates this Month
• Celebrating August: Where Summer Meets Google’s Wave of Updates!
• You’re Gonna Want to Know This: 14 Updates from Google Workspace
• Summer Slump: Over 20 Hot Updates from Google Workspace
• All articles in the Google Hybrid Work series