Google introduces Smart Canvas tool for better communication

Google has announced new Workspace platform features that will enable Google Workspace apps to connect more easily. Here’s what we know so far.

Google’s Workspace app now has a number of new functionality. The new features were unveiled at Google I/O 2021 and will greatly improve the company’s online communication tools. By the end of the year, the features will be available across all Google Workspace apps, including Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Google also announced a new “smart canvas” strategy, which means the Workspace platform’s multiple applications and services can now work together even more smoothly. New smart chips in Docs have been unveiled by the company, which will recommend files and meetings in a shared document. Users will have to type “@” to see a list of recommended individuals, files, and meetings in order to insert these smart chips. In the coming months, smart chips will be available for Sheets.

The insert link experience has also been enhanced, with appropriate, intelligent suggestions for Drive files, headings, and bookmarks within documents based on the highlighted text where users can insert the link now displayed. Google Docs would also get a pageless format, allowing users to eliminate the page’s boundaries.

Users will be able to import information from Calendar meeting invites thanks to Docs’ pageless format. In Docs, connected checklists will allow users to assign items to other users, and in Sheet, users will have more assisted analysis functionality.

It’s also introducing emoji reactions to Docs, but these won’t be available right away. This will enable many people working on the same document to respond to changes in real time. In Google Meet, Google is also adding support for live captions and translations. Users would be able to present content directly from a Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide to a Google Meet call on the site.

Google’s new assisted writing feature would have more language suggestions than before. The changes seem to be a step in the right direction for Google, as they will make Google workspace apps interact more smoothly.