There could be a whole host of secret Google Workspace apps in the works

Google has revealed new admin settings to “control access to experimental Google Workspace apps,” in a move that suggests the company is working on a range of new products or services.

According to a company blog post (opens in new tab), “admins can use the new Experimental Apps Control setting to grant or deny their users access to emerging or experimental Google applications and whether those applications can access core service data.”

It is also a nod to the firm’s foundational years, where it would use Google Labs to test new and upcoming productivity tools. Today, new software is developed under the Area 120 title, with some recent additions including dubbing tool Aloud (opens in new tab) and document scanner and organization tool Stack (opens in new tab).

The company said that, up until now, there have been no on/off switches, and so the addition of this will be important to help users control who gets access to their data, not to mention the stability of software. 

Testing apps with Google Workspace

Global rollout has already begun, but it may take up to 15 days for some users to see the new controls in Google Workspace. 

The new rules will be available to all Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business users.

It will be enabled for most customers, with primary and secondary school education customers having it disabled from the get-go. Admins can control it via Apps > Additional Google services > Settings for Workspace Experiments.

At the time of writing, there is one Area 120 app that can be enabled or disabled from the new controls: digital business tool Qaya (opens in new tab). 

Future additions are likely to have a focus on collaboration or workflow, because the new controls are only available to Workspace customers, not personal/individual accounts.