Access checker feature on Google Drive now suggests who to share files with

If you’re heavily reliant on Google apps, you should be familiar with the “Access checker” tool available on these services. This feature lets you know which recipient has access to your files. Google updated this feature on Drive to make it more convenient to use. It will now suggest to you users it thinks will need access to certain files. Instead of going with the default “turn link sharing,” this should help improve security.

Aside from this, the app now supports more file types, including those stored on a Team Drive. G Suite enterprise users will have their sharing settings still be configured by administrators. Admins can select what options appear to users in Access Checker. As explained, “This launch respects the settings you’ve already chosen for Sharing outside your domain, Access Checker, and Link Sharing Defaults. If you’ve chosen to limit Access Checker to Recipients only, link sharing will not be suggested.”

Source: 9to5Google

IFTTT decentralizes Google Drive service, splits actions into Docs, Sheets, and Drive

IFTTT (or If This Then That) is an automation platform that works across a variety of services over the internet. You can use it to do things like save Instagram photos to your Google Drive, have it cross-post social media posts on various platforms, turn on the lights at home when it detects you’re in the area, and so much more. A new update coming to the platform though relates more to Google Drive. IFTTT is splitting up its Google Drive “applet” into the more specific Google apps, namely Drive, Sheets, and Docs.

This time, any applet that deals with spreadsheets will become linked to the Sheets channel, same goes for Docs and any created or uploaded document. Meanwhile, any applet that makes use of the file upload action will remain part of Drive. IFTTT is setting up these new services now and warns its users their might be some service interruptions on November 9. Some of you might already see the two new channels and have your applets migrated there.

Source: Android Police

Google will automatically delete your Android backups without notice after two months of inactivity

This bit of news isn’t actually new information but it might be something you aren’t aware of. Your Android backups of a specific unused device will be deleted from Google's servers after two months of inactivity. The worst part is you won’t get a notification that this is happening and your data and settings can’t be restored. These backups will only be retained “as long as you use your device.” For those unused devices, Google Drive will show an expiration date below the file after two weeks of the device going unused. We assume that will reset once you use the device.

This isn’t an abnormal practice for storage companies but Google must work on warning its users about this. A Reddit user learned this the hard way and he laments how he wasn’t given a warning by Google or even given the option to use the Drive storage he pays for as a backup option. 

Source: The Verge

Google Drive app for PC and Mac will be shut down in March 2018

With the launch of Backup and Sync, Google finally announced its plans for the Drive app for desktop. Support for the app is ending on December 11^th before it gets completely shut down on March 12, 2018. If you’re still using the app, you might see a notification next month that it’s “going away” and that Google wants you to either use Backup and Sync or Drive File Stream, which is the enterprise version of the app.

Backup and Sync is the consumer version that can basically upload all the files you want to sync with it and works kind of like a hybrid Google Drive and Google Photos Uploader. Drive File Stream lets you access your My Drive files, Team Drives files, and even stream your files on demand right from your computer.

Source: The Verge