New sidebar experience in Google Docs, Slides and Sheets apps on Android Tablets

 

Gif Credit: Google Workspace Updates

Google is rolling out two significant updates to enhance the user experience for Google Workspace on Android tablets and across its suite of productivity apps, including Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets.

New formatting sidebar in Google Docs, Slides and Sheets apps on Android Tablets

The addition of a new formatting sidebar in Google Docs, Slides and Sheets will enhance the Workspace experience on large-screen Android devices. In addition to meeting the Google Material Design 3 guidelines, this new sidebar reduces the number of taps needed to navigate to formatting options, enabling you to more easily arrange text, tables, images and more.

The new sidebar is rolling out to Rapid Release domains now while the gradual rollout for Scheduled Release domains is planned for March 6, 2024. It will be available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.

Easily drag and drop an image to replace the background in Google Slides

A new functionality lets you easily set an image as the background in Google Slides. Simply hovering over the border of an empty slide before dropping in an image will now set the image as the background in Google Slides. Dropping the image elsewhere on the slide will insert the image onto the slide.

This drag-and-drop functionality is rolling out to Rapid Release domains. For Scheduled Release domains, the rollout will commence on February 26, 2024. The feature will be available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.