Google productivity apps update for iOS brings new Gmail widget, Google Meet picture-in-picture

Google is now rolling out an update to its productivity tools for iOS and iPadOS, reports 9to5Google. Gmail, Google Sheets, and Google Meet will now be getting a couple of useful features for iPhones and iPads.

Google productivity tools get a useful update on iOS and iPadOS

First off, we have Gmail. The company is now releasing a new Gmail widget, and in a blog post announcing the update, Google states this new Gmail widget's release is based on feedback from the first Gmail widget. The new home-screen widget can help you better manage your inbox on iOS, and you will be able to see the senders and the subjects of your most recent emails.


The iOS widget will be available over the "next few weeks", according to Google's post.

The second feature Google is adding is picture-in-picture support to Google Meet, which is a welcome addition to the productivity tool's multitasking abilities. The picture-in-picture mode makes it possible for you to still participate in a meeting on Google Meet while doing something else in another app on your iOS device.


The blog post reveals that the same feature will also be launched for the Gmail app in the next few weeks.

And last but not least, Google Sheets is also receiving some update love from the tech giant. The productivity app is now getting keyboard shortcut support on iOS.

Shortcuts make it easier for you to complete tasks on Google Sheets using a small keyboard. For example, you may want to select a whole row or find and replace certain values in a table. What's even cooler is that these keyboard shortcuts will work if you are using a Bluetooth or Magic Keyboard with your iPad. Holding down the command key will display the available shortcuts for Google Sheets.

Gmail and Google Meet on Android have also recently gotten useful new features

We recently reported on the fact that Android users will now be getting search filters in the Gmail app. Before this update, searching through your inbox in the Gmail app for Android took a lot of time, mainly because of the lack of any filters. In the desktop version, you still had the possibility to filter by the recipient, subject, keywords, email size, and date, which made searching quite easier. The cool thing is that now Google is updating the desktop version as well, adding more enhanced ways to search.

On Android, Gmail users will now be able to use filters with the search results to find specific emails and information. The new filters can be used independently or after the search is complete, as they appear as drop-down lists. The update is currently rolling out. Once you get it, you will see buttons for the following filters: "From", "Sent to", "Date", and "Attachments", after entering a search term.

On the other hand, the Google Meet Android app is now getting custom backgrounds for meetings.