Google Drive is about to get way better at video and search, and it’s about time
Google is taking Google Drive to the next level with some shiny new improvements, like speeding up video load times and introducing search filters.
The faster load times are thanks to Google’s addition of DASH transcode technology, which allows Drive to adjust video quality based on the user’s network conditions. The improved search filters for Drive, which have been in development since at least October 2023, are limited to iOS for now – but Android users can look forward to this very soon.
For the uninitiated, Google Drive is a popular cloud file storage service and an integral part of Google’s suite of productivity apps known as Google Workspace. Google Workspace apps like Drive and Docs get a lot of praise for being intuitive and communicating well with each other, as well as for their overall functionality. One of the features getting a lot of attention is Google Drive’s video uploading and sharing capabilities, thanks in part to the sharing tools in the Android share sheet.
Unfortunately, video playback in Google Drive wasn’t up to the same high standard as the rest of Google Workspace – and this was notable because Google also runs video hosting giant YouTube.
Faster video for Google Drive incoming
It looks like this is about to change, with the Google Drive team announcing these new features and improvements soon Google Workspace blog post. It adds DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) transcodes to handle all videos hosted on Drive. This technology helps enable adaptive bitrate playback (the rate at which data is processed and transmitted during video and audio playback), which adjusts to provide higher or lower resolution video based on factors such as the quality of the user’s local network connection. This development should result in improved join times, which refers to the time from the user clicking on the video to the start of playback.
The newly applied DASH transcodes will now affect new videos applied to Google Drive, while existing videos will be updated to comply with this change by the end of the year, according to Google.
But wait! Better search filters are also added
In addition to the improvement in video loading times, another feature coming soon is the improved search filters that will soon be included in the Google Drive app for Android and iOS. These were spotted by Android Police in October, hidden under code flags, while the web version first received them in November.
Now these improved search filters are coming to the Drive app on mobile devices. The filters will come to iOS first and “soon” to Android, although no exact date has been given yet. Google makes it clear in its blog post that an update for the app on Android will be available if these search filters are added. The new filters appear when you tap the search bar and record Type, PeopleAnd Date changedand are already available to many Google Workspace users on Apple devices.
These are positive updates for anyone using Google Drive for video storage and file organization (and will help achieve some parity with the competition: we’re already seeing advanced search parameters in cloud storage services like Microsoft OneDrive).
The video processing improvement also seems somewhat overdue considering Google’s video hosting expertise and resources. These kinds of changes and updates may not be the most noticeable, but good, intuitive and functional products, as we have come to expect from Google, are what ultimately wins and retains users.