Enhanced Features: Google Drive Enhances Video Playback and Search Experience on iOS

Google Drive users are in for a treat as the cloud-based storage platform receives a series of updates aimed at enhancing usability and functionality. Among these updates is the introduction of a new transcode feature designed to optimize video playback speed and reduce instances of rebuffering when streaming videos directly from Drive. Additionally, Google has implemented improvements to the search functionality on iOS devices, empowering users to quickly locate their desired files with greater efficiency. These enhancements come as part of Google’s ongoing efforts to refine and enrich the user experience across its suite of productivity tools.

The announcement of these new features was made through a recent blog post on Google Workspace, highlighting the tech giant’s commitment to delivering innovative solutions that cater to the evolving needs of its users. In reference to the video playback improvements, Google stated, “We’re enabling the generation and playback of Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) video transcodes for all new videos uploaded to Google Drive.” By leveraging DASH transcodes, users can expect to experience adaptive bitrate playback, ensuring smoother streaming experiences tailored to their network conditions and device capabilities.

As a result of these enhancements, users will notice significant improvements in two key areas. Firstly, the video join time—referring to the duration it takes for a video to start playing after the play button is clicked—will be notably reduced, enhancing the overall user experience.

Moreover, users can expect fewer instances of rebuffering during video playback, contributing to a more seamless and uninterrupted viewing experience. While these changes are currently applicable to newly uploaded videos, Google has assured users that existing videos will also benefit from the transcode feature by the year’s end, further enhancing the playback experience across the platform.

Google Drive is getting a couple of updates that will improve the usability of the cloud-based storage platform. The tech giant is adding a new transcode to improve the playback speed and rebuffering of videos played within Drive. It is also improving the search functionality on iOS and adding query filters to help users quickly get to the desired file. Additionally, Google is increasing the timeout time for BigQuery and Looker within Connected Sheets. The features were rolled out last week.

The new features were announced in a Google Workspace blog post. On video playback improvements, the tech giant said, “We’re enabling the generation and playback of Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) video transcodes for all new videos uploaded to Google Drive. DASH transcodes provide adaptive bitrate playback, which allows users to receive higher or lower resolution playback based on aspects like their local network quality.”

Users will see two changes from this. First, the video join time, which is the time a video takes to start after clicking the play button. Second, users will also notice reduced instances of rebuffering as the video plays. Currently, the changes will only be visible on new videos that are uploaded to Google Drive, however, the company said that the transcode will be applied to existing videos by the end of the year.