Google is bringing the redesigned Gmail’s nifty side panel to other G Suite apps

The newly redesigned Gmail has a lot of smart tricks, but none offer quite as significant a boost to productivity as the side panel. The feature lets you quickly pop open a sidebar of Google apps like Tasks and Calendar, so you can then edit your to-do list or add a meeting to your schedule without having to leave your inbox.

It’s so popular with Gmail users, it seems, that Google is expanding it. The company says it’s introducing that side panel feature to other G Suite Apps, so you’ll now be able to access Google Calendar, Keep, and Tasks from within Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings. You’ll also be access Keep and Tasks from within Calendar.

If you don’t like the side panel or feel it makes a Google app too cluttered, which is a valid argument for the redesigned Gmail, you can also minimize it to keep it out of the way. The features should be arriving from those on Google’s “rapid release” schedule and more broadly for all G Suite users over the course of the next two weeks.