Handwritten annotations arrive in Google Docs for Android users

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Another one of the newer Android updates streamlines document review on your Android device. Google Docs now supports handwritten annotations. Just use your finger or stylus to add handwritten annotations directly in Docs. You can choose from various pen colours and highlighters, making providing feedback fast, flexible, and effortless.

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Google introduces new formatting sidebar for Docs, Sheets, & Slides

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Google ditches the clunky toolbar for some of its tablet-based productivity apps. Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides on Android slates now boast a streamlined formatting sidebar for effortless document styling. You can access essential options like line spacing, columns, and clear formatting with fewer taps and more clarity. No more hunting for settings—the sidebar stays put even as you type, letting you focus on your creative flow. This update brings the Android experience closer to the web, giving you desktop-level control on the go. 

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Google Docs gets a polling feature

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Google has recently introduced Smart Canvas features to simplify template creation, document reuse, and YouTube video embedding. Now, it adds a polling feature that can be useful for shared Google Docs. With polls, it might help with making collective decisions more easily. Google allows users to add polls to documents using Smart Chips, a similar feature already available in Google Slides. You can vote by clicking the emoji next to the option you prefer and see the number of votes per option.

The company expects its users to utilize this polling feature to compare ideas, get feedback, and rank ideas based on popularity. And now, you don't have to use alternative apps to poll collaborators. You can already do it within the document you're working on. Google is rolling out the feature gradually, and it's only available for some customers, including Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Nonprofit-tier Workspace.

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Google Workspace opens AI feature test to more users

Google wants more testers to try out the AI features it's added to Workspace apps. The company announced it's expanded access to its pool of "trusted testers" by over "10x." Right now, Google Docs and Gmail get access to these additional smarts, where you can generate, summarize, or brainstorm text and condense meeting notes into an email. 

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