On a weekly basis, various Google apps and services see an update landing for them. This week was no different with the likes of Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive receiving an update. While most of the main aspects of the update was reported when the update was first announced, there are usually indicators of what is ‘coming soon’ embedded deep within the lines of code. As usual Android Police (source link below) did their typical teardown of the app and there seems to be some interesting additions to Drive and Slides on the horizon.
Probably, the most useful change noted in the teardown is that Slides seems to be in line to receive Hangout’s compatibility. References to the Hangouts function is noted in the code and looks set to offer users the ability to engage in group presentations via Hangouts. Although the mentions are there, the details are limited and as such it is unclear on whether users will be able to simply launch a presentation during a Hangout or whether the presentation will have to be the point of the Hangout, with all invited viewers watching the presentation only.
In terms of Drive, one interesting observation noted in the teardown is that the Drive app Looks set to receive ‘Contact Chips’. For those who are unsure of what these are, you’ve seen them already as they are currently used for a number of Google services such as Gmail. In short, they are when the contact information displays the contact image as well as their name. The new strings noted, suggest that soon when people are sharing folders or content on Drive with others (collaborators), these contact chips will be employed. An interesting line of code which has been spotted seemed to refer to a possible ‘Next-Gen UI’. The code was spotted within the Drive app and although does seem to suggest that a new UI might be on the horizon, very little-to-no details are known about this. While lastly, there is also some referencing to what seems to be universal templates that may be introduced to Docs, Slides and Sheets. Although, once again, details on this are limited. Either way though, there does seem to be some interesting additions coming to the more office based Google services.