Share your stuff from Google Drive to Google+

With Google+, you can share what you want with just the right people. That might be pictures from your weekend apple picking adventure or an article from your favorite new blog. Starting today, you can also share the stuff you create and store in Google Drive, and people will be able to flip through presentations, open PDFs, play videos and more, directly in the Google+ stream.
(click the image above to view a presentation in the stream) 

To get started, simply click the Google+ icon when you're sharing from Drive, or copy-and-paste a link to a file from Google Drive into one of your Google+ posts.
Posted by Li-Wei Lee, Software Engineer

Google Drive: Updates for iOS and Android

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

Every day, more and more people are choosing to live online and get things done in the cloud. Helping to make this experience as seamless as possible, Google Drive is one place where you can create, share and keep all your stuff. Drive is available on the web, as well as Mac, Windows and Android and iOS.

Updates for iOS
Starting today, if you’re using the Drive app on your iOS device you can also edit Google documents, just as you can with the Android app. From your iPhone or iPad, you can create a new document, edit an existing one or format text. And just like on your computer, you’ll be able to see other people’s edits instantly as they’re made.



You’ll also notice other new improvements to the iOS Drive app. For example, you can now view Google presentations on your iPhone or iPad, including speaker notes, full-screen mode and the ability to swipe between slides. You can also create new folders, move files into folders and upload stuff (like photos and videos) from your device directly in the Drive app.

Updates for Android 
We’re also updating the Drive app for Android phones and tablets today. You can now add comments, reply to existing comments and view tables in your Google documents. And you’ll have the same new abilities to view presentations and organize your stuff as your friends with iPhones do.

More to come... 
Looking ahead, we have plenty more planned for the Drive mobile apps—including native editing and real-time collaboration for Google spreadsheets. Stay tuned.

Get Drive in the App Store for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and visit the Play Store to get the latest on your Android phone or tablet. To learn more about Google Drive, visit drive.google.com/start
Posted by Anil Sabharwal, Senior Product Manager

Pinteresting videos are coming your way from YouTube

We love sharing videos on Google+, Facebook and Twitter as much as you do, so today we’re kicking off our next sharing adventure—YouTube’s on Pinterest.

Since Pinterest introduced video pins, we’ve been ever so eager to join the party. We’ve brought together a Pinterest dream team at YouTube to share videos we hope you’ll find particularly useful, informative and inspiring—with a goal that every video we share will “wow” you.

Here are a few Pinterest boards from us:
  • Pinspiration - Inspiring and motivating videos to make your world a little more awesome
  • Make It Yourself - To help you get crafty
  • Life 101 - Cut corners in your hectic schedule with quick lifehacking tips & tricks
  • The Beauty Corner - Find advice for novice to pro style & beauty gurus
  • NomNomNom - Discover 15-minute meals to gourmets eats and baking tutorials
  • Work It Out - Your personal fitness video center
We’ve got LOTS more, too—so you can also just follow all of our Pinterest boards to get all our goodies.


Danielle Paquette, social media manager, recently pinned “Where the Hell is Matt? 2012

Tips & Tricks: Sharing Google Docs Like a Pro

Google Docs enables you to collaborate on your documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings with as many, or as few, people as you’d like. We’ve explained our new sharing model before, but, in recognition of National Cyber Security Awareness month, we want to make sure you’re aware of your options for sharing your documents.

Google Docs Sharing Icons 101

In your document list, you’ll notice various icons and descriptions listed next to the title of each doc. Here’s a general overview:
  • A lock icon means “Private”
  • A lock icon in front of a globe means “Anyone with the link”
  • A globe means “Public on the web”
Next to each of these icons, you’ll see text indicating who can edit a doc and who can view a doc -- a collaborator is able to edit, while a viewer can access a doc in view-only mode.

Let’s look at a few examples:


If you have a doc with a lock icon that reads “Not shared,” the doc is private to only you. No one but you can find, view or edit that document.

If your doc has a lock icon that reads “[Owner’s name] to X collaborators, Y viewers,” that document is accessible to you and the people with whom you (or a collaborator, if you have given collaborators the ability to change permissions) have explicitly shared it. If the link to the doc is sent to someone who hasn’t been granted either view- or edit-access, that person won’t be able to open the doc.

The sharing setting “Anyone with the link” is represented by a small lock over a globe. If you see this icon, it means that the doc is viewable to anyone who has the link to the doc. You can also explicitly allow certain individuals to edit the document, which is represented by the text “3 collaborators.”

If this link is inadvertently shared with people who shouldn’t have access, you can always reset the link by clicking Reset link in the sharing dialog in your doc:



If your doc is set to public, it will have a globe next to it, and it could potentially be found and viewed by anyone on the web. We call this setting “Public on the web (anyone can view).” If you check the box to allow anyone to edit in the sharing dialog, your doc will also be editable by anyone who opens it.

Be cautious when using this setting to help avoid sharing information beyond your comfort level.

View access versus edit access to a doc
In addition to the indicators above, you can see who can view a doc and who can edit a doc from the sharing dialog within the doc itself. If the doc is set to “Private to X collaborators, Y viewers,” you’ll be able to see which collaborators can view and which collaborators can edit. In the drop-down menu, the owner of the doc, or collaborators who have been granted permission, can change this setting for each person.

Click Change next to the text “Editors will be allowed to add people and change the permissions” if you don’t want to allow people with edit access on your doc to be able to share the document or change the sharing settings.

For docs with the sharing settings ‘Anyone with the link’ or ‘Public on the web,’ the Visibility options pane lets you control whether people viewing the doc will also be able to edit it. Check the box next to “Allow anyone to edit (no sign-in required)” if you’d like anyone who opens your doc to be able to edit it.

Note that both collaborators with view access to a doc and collaborators that have edit access will be able to make a copy of the data or material contained in the doc.

Using this handy reference for sharing icons and settings, we encourage you to go through your document list at docs.google.com and check your document sharing settings to make sure that you’re sharing and collaborating securely in Google Docs. You can learn more about sharing and visibility settings in the Google Docs Help Center.

Sharing in Google Docs just got easier

The ability to share my Google Docs is crucial to my productivity. My teammates and I often add comments to docs, collaboratively organize our feature-planning spreadsheet, and send links of interesting company presentations to each other. Like anyone, I want to make sure that I can share these materials with my colleagues easily and efficiently. This is why I’m happy to announce some improvements that make sharing your Docs easier while giving you even more control:

  • Improved visibility options indicating how private or shareable a doc is: Google docs can now be identified as: private; anyone with a link; or public on the web.

    • Private: Docs start out as private. When you first create a doc, you are the only person with access to it. From there, you can give access to other people.
    • Anyone with the link: If you set your doc to “Anyone with the link,” it’s like an unlisted phone number. In the same way that anyone who knows an unlisted phone number can call it, anyone who knows the web address or URL of that doc can view it.
    • Public on the web allows anyone the ability to find and access that particular doc on the web. For example, you could create a flyer for a concert, save it as a public doc, post a link to it on your blog. Public docs are automatically indexed by search engines like Google, so they may appear in search results as well.

  • Access viewable at a glance: Visibility options for your docs now appear next to every doc title and in the docs list. You can easily see the full list of editors and viewers by clicking on the visibility option next to the doc’s title or on the Share button

  • A cleaner, simpler interface: We’ve removed the three tab interface and replaced it with one dialog that lets you see who has access, manage access and invite others.

  • Resettable doc URL: For a doc set to anyone with a link, you can reset the doc’s URL at anytime, which helps you better control who has access to your doc.

  • Bulk changes in the docs list: You can now modify the sharing settings of multiple docs at a time by selecting multiple docs and selecting Share > Sharing settings.
To learn more about how these new visibility options work and for an overview of sharing in Google Docs, check out the videos below:





These changes are rolling out now and should be available to everyone in the next week. These improvements have really made a difference in my Google Docs experience. I can share much more quickly and always tell at a glance who has access to my docs. I hope you find them helpful too. Let us know what you think in the forums.

Sharing emails get a facelift

Starting today, more colorful emails might be waiting in your friends' and colleagues' inboxes if you've shared Google documents with them. Check out the difference:

Old Email
New Email
In addition to the visual update, the new emails showcase your custom message rather than placing it at the bottom. Your buddy won't miss that important note about your shared document being a work of fiction (sound familiar?), because it's now prominently featured.

No more hunting for links either, just click the header:

Or, if multiple docs are shared, peruse a simple list:

The email's color and icon indicate the type of document at-a-glance:

Spreadsheets
Presentations
We know you're mighty busy, so we're always looking for ways to make Google Docs quicker and easier to use and share. Let us know what you think on the forums.

Taking charge of your document sharing

We designed Google Docs to make it easier for users to collaborate with one another — students working on assignments, colleagues designing projects and presentations, and friends and families sharing ideas and planning events together. We think collaboration inspires innovation and learning. That being said, we also recognize that sometimes you may want to share your documents and collaborate with a more limited group. In the spirit of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, we recommend you keep the following document sharing tips in mind.


Share your documents wisely

You can share your Google documents with just about anyone, but if your information is sensitive or confidential, make sure you are only sharing it with people you trust. Avoid inviting an entire mailing list or group if you aren't sure who is in that group or who may be added in the future. Instead, you can individually invite the specific people with whom you'd like to share your document.

By default, if you give other users edit rights to your document, they are able to invite others to view or edit the document, too. We designed the sharing feature this way because we assume that the people with whom you're sharing your documents are people you trust. If it's important to you that your document is only accessed by the people you specifically invite, go to the 'Advanced permissions' tab in your sharing settings and un-check the boxes next to 'Allow editors to invite others to edit or view' and 'Allow invitations to be forwarded.' Un-checking these boxes will make you the only one who can invite people to your document.


Editors and Viewers can also make a copy of your document

Anyone with edit or view access to your document, presentation or spreadsheet can make a copy of that doc. Remember that copying would be possible simply by copying/pasting the contents of a document into another program — even without this specific copy feature. When someone uses the "Make a copy" function (from the File menu) in Google Docs, that person becomes the owner of the new document and can choose to carry over all the collaborators of the copied document or remove them. They can then change the content and publish or share the document with whomever they want. Again, be sure to only share your docs with people you trust.


Removing a viewer or editor from your document

If you would no longer like one or more of your collaborators to have access to your documents, you can remove them. To remove a viewer or editor from a document, go to the 'People with access' tab in your sharing settings and choose 'None' from the drop-down list next to their name. Make sure you also go to the 'Advanced permissions' tab and un-check the box next to 'Allow invitations to be forwarded.' This will disable the invitation that you had originally sent and prevent that person from accessing your doc using that invitation.


These are just some of the options you have available for sharing your documents. For more information about sharing options, visit our Help Center.