Summary
- Google Drive now offers instant playback for newly-uploaded videos, eliminating wait times.
- The feature is rolling out gradually and will be available on all Workspace and personal accounts by mid-to-late January.
- Google Groups is phasing out old keyboard shortcuts for new, more accessible ones by early 2025.
A highly-anticipated media playback feature for Google Drive is rolling out now — soon after the platform completely revamped the way its video player looks and performs.
For reference, back in October, Google Drive unwrapped a refreshed media player that looked eerily similar to the Apple TV+ video player layout, complete with automatic transcriptions and faster load times for videos. Now, Google seems to be further reducing video load times, going as far as saying that playback of newly-uploaded videos is now instant.
Related
Google Drive’s video player is getting a Material Design 3 makeover
Available across Google Workspace
In a new Workspace blog post, the tech giant announced that instantaneous playback is now rolling out on the web, essentially eliminating wait times between upload and playback. The tech giant did not highlight what under-the-hood changes it made to achieve faster loading. Whatever it did, however, is clearly working.
I’ve already noticed faster playback on one of my Workspace accounts, while a different account is still laggard, suggesting a gradual rollout. According to Google, the feature should be widely available by mid-to-late January 2025.
Once rolled out widely, the feature should appear on all Workspace, Workspace Individual, and personal Google accounts. It is unclear if and when similar functionality will become available on Google Drive’s mobile apps.
New Google Groups shortcuts are on the way too
Elsewhere, as part of the same blog, the tech giant also highlighted a key accessibility-focused change for Google Groups. As part of the change, Google is phasing out old keyboard shortcuts in favor of new, more accessible ones. The new shortcuts, as seen below, are expected to be widely available by January 13, 20255 across Workspace, Workspace Individual, and personal Google accounts. Existing and new shortcuts will continue to work as intended until “early 2025,” after which only new shortcuts will work.
|
Shortcut description |
New ChromeOS / Windows shortcut |
Old shortcut |
|
Open conversation |
Alt+o Enter |
o Enter |
|
Older conversation |
Alt+j Down arrow |
j |
|
Newer conversation |
Alt+k Up arrow |
k |
|
For message opened from conversation list: Back to conversation list For message opened from search result list: Back to search results |
Alt+Left arrow |
u |
|
Next message |
Alt+n |
n |
|
Previous message |
Alt+p |
p |
|
For message opened from conversation list: Next conversation in list For message opened from search result list: Next conversation in search results |
Alt+j |
j |
|
For message opened from conversation list: Previous conversation in list For message opened from search result list: Previous conversation in search results |
Alt+k |
k |
|
Expand or collapse message |
Alt+o Enter |
o Enter |
|
Reply to all group members |
Alt+a |
r |
|
Forward message |
Alt+w |
f |
