Google today added an activity stream to Google Drive that finally makes it easier for its users to track changes to documents that are shared with multiple users. This feature, Google says, will roll out over the next week, so it may be a few days before you will see it in your account.
Being able to easily edit documents with multiple users in real time is one of the features that always made Google Drive stand out. As the company rightly argues, though, keeping track of all the actions users take in these documents was virtually impossible. While most document-centric services like Podio offer similar streams, Google never offered this feature, despite its focus on document sharing.
The stream will track edits and comments, as well as actions like adding new spreadsheets, renaming documents and who a file was shared with.
When you go to drive now, you can click a new info button in the top navigation bar and the new activity stream will pop up.
Google has recently increased the rate at which it updates Drive again. Just last month, it added a new drop-down menu that makes it easier to rename folders and rename and organize them. While that wasn’t a major new feature, it did make using Drive easier, just like today’s update makes it a far more usable solution for team.