The new “Follow” feature is now rolling out to all users of Google Slides
Google Slides is one of the key programs available as part of Workspace, the company’s suite of cloud-based productivity apps. Collaboration has been at the heart of some of the newest features to Workspace tools with Slides users recently gaining the ability to check which slide another collaborator is on. The latest addition to the presentation-making tool allows users to “Follow” a collaborator and observe as they work on the slides.
In a Workspace Updates blog post, Google says the feature is enabled by default for all Slides users: they simply have to tap the collaborator’s avatar in the toolbar to follow along. Turning this on also brings up a “Following” badge around the avatar. Tapping it again disables following, which is certainly convenient.
Simply put, when you’re following a collaborator on a Slides project, you’ll automatically track changes they’re making to each slide as they work through the presentation deck. It’s definitely handy for getting a team on the same page, but can be abused by some of the nosier types.
Following also stops if the collaborator refreshes or exits the project or if the viewer starts aking edits to the slides themselves or enters slideshow mode. Otherwise, it’s fairly straightforward and shouldn’t take much time to get used to.
Google started rolling out the feature on December 8 and there are no availability restrictions as both personal Google account holders and standard Workspace customers can access this nifty addition aimed at encouraging collaboration within Slides. While this inclusion has obvious benefits for educators, it also has the potential to supercharge creative collaboration in a professional setting.
This is one of the several Workspace-related updates rolled out by Google over the past several months. With foldables set to become mainstream over the next couple of years, an update to Workspace last month enabled support for the drag-and-drop function on apps including Slides and Drive ahead of the Pixel Fold’s release sometime next year.
