Google is improving Google Drive with several shiny new improvements, such as speeding up video loading times and introducing search filters.
Faster loading times will come from the addition of Google's DASH transcoding technology, which allows Drive to adapt video quality based on the user's network conditions. 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 expect them very soon.
For the uninitiated, Google Drive is a popular cloud file storage service and is an integral part of Google's productivity suite known as Google Workspace. Google Workspace apps like Drive and Docs get a lot of praise for being intuitive and interacting well with each other, as well as their overall functionality. One of the features that's getting a lot of love is the ability to upload and share videos from Google Drive, thanks in part to the sharing tools in Android's Share Sheet.
Unfortunately, Google Drive video playback didn't reach the same high standard as the rest of Google Workspace, and this raised eyebrows since Google also runs video hosting giant YouTube.
Faster incoming video for Google Drive
It looks like that's about to change: the Google Drive team announces these new features and improvements in a Google Workspace blog post. It will add DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) transcodes to help process any video hosted on Drive. This technology helps facilitate adaptive bitrate playback (the speed at which data is processed and sent during video and audio playback), which adjusts to deliver higher or lower resolution video based on factors such as quality of the user's local network connection. This development should result in better “join times,” which refer to the time from when the user clicks on the video to the start of playback.
The newly applied DASH transcodes will affect new videos applied to Google Drive going forward, while existing videos will be updated to comply with this change before the end of the year, according to Google.
But wait! Better search filters are also being added
Along with the increase in video loading times, another feature coming soon are 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 marks, and the web version received them for the first time in November.
Now, these improved search filters are being introduced to the Drive app on mobile devices. The filters will arrive first on iOS and “soon” on Android, although an exact date has not yet been given. Google clarifies in its blog post that an update will be available for the app on Android when these search filters are added. New filters will appear when you tap the search bar and will include Guy, Peopleand Modified dateand are now available to many Google Workspace users on Apple devices.
These are positive updates for everyone who uses Google Drive for video storage and file organization (and will help it achieve some parity with the competition: we already see sophisticated search parameters in cloud storage services like Microsoft OneDrive).
The improvement in video processing also seems somewhat overdue, considering Google's video hosting experience and resources. Changes and updates like this may not be the flashiest, but good, intuitive, functional products like the ones we've come to expect from Google are what ultimately win and retain users.
