Like most cloud software platforms, Apps for Work is a great way to untether access to company documents and information from a physical location and allow employees to work more efficiently. However, no matter how much you love Apps for Work it’s always had one pretty glaring flaw. If you use the service or have avoided it because of the disconnect between the different apps, you can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Springboard is here to give Google’s cloud software a much needed facelift.

Although it has been a long time since we’ve seen a big update from the service, the silence was finally broken when Google unveiled Springboard earlier this month. To understand what this new tool does, we need to get a better idea of the problem it aims to solve. Apps for Work includes ten separate cloud software packages that allow users to create, share and collaborate documents without any local installations. All of these services keep documents in Google’s cloud storage for quick and easy access from any web-based device.

Unfortunately, most of these applications run independently of each other and individual documents need to be shared between each platform for there to be proper cross functionality. In fact, Google estimates that Apps for Work users currently waste nearly one full day each week tracking down and researching information in their Google cloud storage. And that’s exactly what Google wants to change.

Springboard will allow users to connect all of their Apps for Work documents into one file system. Did you schedule a meeting but can’t remember if you used Gmail, Google Calendar, or your meetings spreadsheet? No need to pinball between the different applications until you eventually find it, one simple search will scan all of your Google cloud storage.

As if this simple but vital upgrade wasn’t enough, they’ve also claimed that Springboard will provide recommendations and suggestions for “actionable information”. This suggests that we will see something equivalent to Google Now for our business accounts, where Google will begin to recognize search habits, appointments and requests within the text of your Apps for Works documents and turn them into unprompted recommendations.

Alongside the Springboard announcement was a pretty large update to another Apps for Work service: Sites. This tool allows Google business users to create intranet sites for collaboration and organization, and the update increases the functionality to include more dynamic design tools like automatic mobile optimization, drag and drop frames and live editing on the page. Unsurprisingly, it also showcases a new function to search across all company Apps for Work documents. Almost like a customizable version of Google Drive for your office.

Despite the announcement of these services, Google has refrained from providing demonstrations or screenshots as of yet. Although the Springboard and Sites updates are currently only available to early adopters, companies can sign up to join that group and try it out for themselves.

Interested in signing up to try it out? Or do you currently use the free, less equipped version of Google Apps and think it’s time to make the switch to Apps for Work? We’re experts in all things Google and want to show you what it can do for you -- send us your questions today.

According to Statcounter’s April web browser usage report, Google Chrome accounts for over 60 percent of the market share. However, out of all those people how many are employing any of the truly helpful extensions offered in Chrome’s web store? The answer is almost certainly less people than the number of those who have problems that could be easily fixed by one of these extensions. Read on to find out if one of our favorite extensions could solve any of your biggest browser complaints.

crxMouse Chrome Gestures

Whether you’re switching between a dozen tabs or hopping around the company website, web navigation can start to feel a bit tedious. If you’ve got two monitors, or just a large screen, moving your mouse to the top of the screen to constantly open and close tabs can really slow down your rhythm. One solution is to learn all of the keyboard shortcuts. An even better one is the “crx Mouse Gestures” extension, which allows you to assign mouse gestures to different browser actions.

Want to go back a page? Right click and drag the mouse to the left. Want to open a new tab? Right click and drag up. Gestures allows you to customize everything, including the motions themselves. In the options menu you can draw custom gestures, for example a box, and tell crx to tie that motion into opening your Gmail inbox in a new tab. It takes no time at all to incorporate the shortcuts into your browsing habits and significantly boosts your browsing efficiency.

Readability

When it’s time to slow down your browsing and read the most recent election article or a recipe you want to try, the page is often cluttered with social sharing buttons, advertisements and stock photos. With the “Readability” extension all of this gets cleared away with the press of a button, leaving you with a clean, text-only page.

In addition to allowing for customization of font, size, and color of your “reader” page, this extension also allows for you to “save for later” and “send to my Kindle”. Readability is a perfect addition for anyone doing a lot of reading who is tired of pages containing more clutter than useful content.

OneTab

After installing the last two extensions you may find yourself with a stack of tabs sandwiched along the top of your screen. Too many open tabs can cripple your available memory. A lot of us open tabs as notes, reminders, and things to check some time in the distant future, which is why you’ll love OneTab. With this extension you can condense all of your open tabs into one page that lists each of them for easy access when you’re ready to return to them.

In addition to reducing your memory usage by up to 95 percent, OneTab will let you share your condensed tab list. If you’re working on research for a client, open all the relevant tabs and with the click of a button OneTab will create a site with a shareable link so you can send them to anyone you’d like.

Black Menu for Google

This extension puts all of Google’s sites, services and apps right in your browser menu. After clicking on the icon, a customizable menu drops down with sites like Drive, YouTube, Gmail and more. But these menu items are more than just links to your inbox and videos. When your mouse hovers over the different options it actually opens a miniaturized window, allowing you to view any of your Google services without opening a new tab or window.

Instead of opening a new tab, navigating to YouTube and searching for a video, clicking on the Black Menu icon will open a miniaturized search function. You don’t even need to open a new window or tab to watch the video; just click play and when you’re finished, clicking outside of the menu will make it like it never happened. For anyone working closely with Drive, Gmail or Google Calendar, this extension can save a lot of time.

Pop-out Youtube

If you love the Black Menu extension, but need a little more functionality out of your YouTube experience, Pop-out YouTube is the next step. This extension allows you to turn any video into a new browserless window that stays on top of all of your other windows. If you need to transcribe something, one click of the extension will pop out the video and you can click a window behind it and start working away without spending 20 minutes trying to perfectly size the window so everything remains visible.

As a quick note, there are dozens of extensions that block ads and those annoying links that overlay your cat videos. Unfortunately, Pop-out Youtube does not include this feature and it’s a good idea to install one of those as well.

Taco

Most of the extensions listed above improve the ease and flow of your internet browsing, but Taco focuses on integration to boost productivity. At its core, this extension replaces your Chrome ‘new tab’ page with a customizable framework for all of your third-party services.

With various templates and layouts, you can organize and combine tasks and notes from over 40 services including Evernote, Google, Salesforce, Trello and more. Any time you’re about to start a new project, open a new tab to search for whatever you need to complete it. But before you hit that ‘Google Search’ button, drag the task item into your ‘doing’ lane and off you go. Finished your work and need to check how your home team is doing in their game? Open a new tab, move the task to your finished lane and check the score.

These are just some of our favorite extensions. If you’d like more suggestions or support for anything Google related, we’re here for you -- don’t hesitate to call.

There are a lot of web-based email platforms in the marketplace. Many come and go, but there’s a reason Gmail has crossed the 1 billion monthly active user milestone and is still standing strong as one of the world’s most popular web-based email clients. It’s extremely easy to use and is always up-to-date and secure, courtesy of Google. But if you’re just using Gmail for sending and receiving emails, you’re really missing out on some of its nifty features that allow you to manage your email more effectively. Here are some tips to make the most of Gmail.

Unsend emails

Ever had that moment when you’re in a hurry to type up an email and send it off only to notice a few seconds later there were a couple of mistakes? Maybe you’ve forgotten to attach a file or misspelled a word. Heck, you may have even sent it to the wrong recipient! Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. This is the moment where Gmail’s ‘Undo Send’ feature will become your new best friend. You can activate this by clicking on the gear icon on the top right hand corner of Gmail, then go to Settings. Scroll down to Undo Send and hit the Enable box. Now you have up to 30 seconds to click the ‘Undo’ button that will pop up once your email’s been sent.

Create to-do lists

Gmail provides an easy way to create a task list that you can use to keep track of all the things you have to do in a minimizable window. This way you won’t have to send yourself an email and clutter your inbox every time you need to remind yourself to do something. Adding a to-do list is easy; simply click the Mail menu in the upper left corner of the Gmail window and choose Tasks. A small window will appear in the bottom right corner of the page, and here you can type in your tasks and check the boxes once you’ve completed each of them.

Prioritize emails

Some emails are too important to be buried in a crowded inbox. This is where you can use Gmail’s Star feature to your advantage. Adding stars is a way to single out emails that need to be read later or require a follow-up. You might already know that clicking the yellow star beside the email will highlight the line and makes the message easier to find. But there’s a way to take things up a notch. Navigate to Settings and scroll down to the Stars section. Here you can drag the stars from the ‘Not in use’ row up to the ‘In use’ row to make them active. Once you’re done, hit Save. You could use the blue star for emails that need a follow-up, red for problems, question mark for the ones that require clarification and so on.

Use canned responses

Have you ever had to answer the same questions sent by clients over and over again? Well you’re in luck. Gmail has a productive hack that allows you to create and send off repetitive messages in just a few clicks. Activate it by heading over to Settings, Labs and click the Enable button in the Canned Responses tab. Now type up a response email. Click the arrow in the lower right corner of the message box and select Canned responses. You can add common phrases, sentences or email bodies that you find yourself using a lot, whether for marketing inquiries, sales pitches or client requests.

With these Gmail features you can save time, get more things done and become more productive. If you want to learn more about Gmail or any other Google apps, please get in touch with us today.