Spaces is an old Google app that aimed to muscle in on Slack’s territory as the workplace chat app of choice. Even though the app is no more, the feature set is as Spaces simply became a part of Gmail rather than having its own app. Google has recently announced details of a Gmail update that will make using Spaces much easier and will likely help users who weren’t aware of it get to know the feature better. Here is what you need to know.
Google has announced via a Google Workspace Updates blog post that it is rolling out a Gmail update to all Google Workspace users. The update is specifically focused on Spaces and will make all of the Spaces at your workplace more visible.
Gmail search is getting a Spaces boost meaning users will be able to search for Spaces using the Gmail online search function. This means that when users carry out searches using the Gmail search function, as well as the regular results, they will now see a list of Google Spaces related to the search term. Furthermore, these will not just be Spaces that the user has joined, either. It will present a full list of all public Spaces as well as any private ones the user has been invited to. The update will also enable users to preview the Spaces before joining them.
Google says that the update is an important one as more and more workplaces are taking advantage of the feature to help foster professional communities between their workers, saying:
“As the number of spaces within your organization continues to grow, we’re offering a better way for you to discover and find the exact space you’re looking for, while also providing a path to join spaces for specific teams, projects, shared interests, and more.”
Interestingly, we have also seen similar moves from Microsoft in recent weeks with Microsoft Teams getting its own version of Facebook.