Have you ever explored those nine dots on your Google account?

The grid of the nine small boxes that are found on the top right corner of the browser when using various Google products like Google Chrome and Gmail is popularly known as the “Waffle”. Google, on the other hand, prefers to call it the “App Launcher Icon”. This is the place to visit for users who like to unearth gems.

Here are a few Google services you can access through those nine dots.

Top Applications in ‘Google Waffle’ aka the Google Application Launcher Icon

Gemini

Gemini is Google’s AI-powered assistant that helps users complete tasks using smart suggestions and conversational responses. It allows users to write, plan, research, and create faster, directly through natural language queries. Whether it’s drafting an email, summarizing text, or exploring ideas, Gemini offers instant, AI-driven help.

This assistant is available across Google’s apps and is designed to save time by delivering relevant responses without switching tabs or doing extra searches.

Gemini has useful user-friendly features like –

• Understands and responds to natural questions
• Can write emails, notes, outlines, and more
• Summarizes articles and documents
• Offers creative suggestions and follow-ups
• Works within Gmail, Docs, and other Google tools
• Helps with coding and technical prompts
• Learns preferences for improved suggestions
• Pulls updated information from the web when needed

Gemini is becoming a smart companion inside Google’s ecosystem, offering real-time assistance and making day-to-day work more efficient through AI.

Translate

Google Translate helps users break language barriers by translating text, voice, documents, and even images in real time. It supports over 100 languages, making it a reliable tool for travelers, students, and professionals working with global content.

Users can type, speak, or scan text to get instant translations. The tool also works offline, making it accessible anytime and anywhere.

Some exciting features of Google Translate that liked by users–

• Translates between 100+ languages
• Instant camera translation for signs and menus
• Real-time voice translation in conversation mode
• Translate text inside images and documents
• Offline translation packs for travel use
• Integration with Chrome, Gmail, and Google Docs
• Phrasebook for saving common translations
• Auto-detection of input language

Google Translate makes communication across languages simple, fast, and accessible, helping users confidently navigate multilingual situations.

Maps

Google Maps is one of the most used navigation tools that helps users find directions, view live traffic, and explore new places. Whether it’s planning a daily commute or discovering a new restaurant, Google Maps offers real-time help with just a few taps.

The app works on phones, desktops, and smart devices, making it easier for users to check routes, nearby services, and even save favorite locations. With its Street View and satellite imagery, the user can get a clear look at places before visiting.

Google Maps offers important features that most users like –

• Step-by-step directions for different transport modes
• Live traffic updates with alternate route suggestions
• Nearby business listings with photos and reviews
• Option to save and label favorite places
• Street View and 360-degree photos
• Voice navigation with Google Assistant
• Downloadable offline maps
• Indoor maps for malls and large buildings

Google Maps is an essential travel and discovery companion for both local navigation and global exploration.

Gmail

Gmail is Google’s free email service used by billions of people worldwide. Known for its clean layout and smart features, Gmail makes sending, organizing, and finding emails simple and efficient. It helps users manage both personal and professional communication from one platform.

Gmail is fully connected with Google Workspace, allowing users to schedule meetings, reply to messages, and share files without leaving their inbox.

Gmail has excellent features like –

• Smart reply and auto-complete suggestions
• Built-in spam filtering and security tools
• Easy labeling and email filtering
• Integration with Google Calendar and Drive
• Customizable inbox with multiple views
• Offline email access with Chrome extension
• Confidential mode for private messages
• Large file sharing via Google Drive

With its intelligent features and deep integration with other Google tools, Gmail simplifies email communication and helps users stay on top of their inbox.

Play Store

Google Play Store is the official app store for Android devices, offering apps, games, movies, books, and more. It allows users to discover, install, and update apps with ease while keeping devices safe with Google Play Protect.

From productivity tools and entertainment apps to educational content, the Play Store serves as a one-stop destination for all Android users.

The Play Store offers top features like –

• Easy app search and installation
• Automatic app updates
• App ratings and user reviews
• Family Library for shared purchases
• In-app purchase management
• Personalized recommendations
• Google Play Protect for app safety
• Availability of movies, TV shows, and eBooks

Google Play Store keeps Android users connected to a wide range of digital content, making it easier to find apps and services that match their daily needs.

Drive

Google Drive is Google’s cloud-based storage platform that allows users to store, organize, and access files from any device. Whether it’s personal photos, videos, documents, or business files, everything can be managed from one place. It eliminates the need for physical storage and keeps files secure and accessible anytime.

Drive works seamlessly with other Google tools like Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, making it easier to share and collaborate with others.

Some of the best features that are offered by Google Drive are –

• 15 GB of free storage across Gmail, Drive, and Photos
• File sharing with access controls
• Automatic syncing across devices
• Built-in search with filters
• Version history and file recovery
• Offline access to selected files
• Real-time collaboration on shared files

With a simple interface and strong integration across Google’s ecosystem, Google Drive has become one of the most reliable storage tools for both personal and professional use.

Docs/Sheets/Slides

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are cloud-based tools that help users create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations from their browsers. These tools don’t require installation, and the best part is that everything is saved automatically, eliminating the risk of losing work.

Multiple users can work on the same file at once, leave comments, and track changes in real time. These tools are ideal for teams, students, and businesses that need fast, flexible content creation.

Some useful features of Docs, Sheets, and Slides for users –

• Access from any device with internet
• Real-time editing and commenting
• Templates for quick formatting
• Export to formats like PDF, Word, Excel, and PPT
• Offline access and syncing
• Integration with Gmail and Drive
• Version history for every file

These tools make writing, data handling, and presenting ideas more efficient by cutting down time and boosting collaboration.

Meet

Google Meet is Google’s answer to Zoom, the popular video calling app. An upgraded version of the Hangouts app, Google Meet, allows the users to host video calls with up to 250 people at a time, depending on the selected plan.

Google Meet has excellent features like –

• Screen sharing
• Video recording
• Adjustable layouts
• Live captioning
• Controls for meeting hosts
• Accepting bulk knocks
• Attendance tracking
• Invite from Google calendar

Google also provides hardware for Google Meet a speaker mic, chrome box, touchscreen, and camera. The specialty of Google Meet hardware is that it can turn any space into a video conferencing room. The microphone provided with the hardware is designed to reduce echoes and to manage background noise.

Google has built a robust support system for Google Meet as customer support is available 24×7 by phone, chat, and email. Apart from this, Google also provides valuable support materials like FAQs and guides on using the G Suite apps.

Sites

Google Sites is a simple web page creation tool that allows users to build websites without coding. The most exciting thing about Google Sites is that it is completely free of cost, and the tool is devoid of expiration dates, limits, risks, or upsells.

Google Sites is fully integrated with all Google products, and the users can access their sites from Google Drive. The beauty of Google Sites is that there are no additional passwords of account setups required to use Google Sites. There is virtually no learning curve for Google Sites and the product, like all other products from Google’s repository, is simple and easy to use. A significant advantage of Google Sites is that it takes care of the website’s security with no extra efforts from the user’s end. Like security, Google also handles the speed issues of websites. As Google Sites is fully integrated with the Google Account, it is simple to share and preview, allowing the users to create and collaborate on the website as quickly as collaborating on a Google Doc.

Vault

Google Vault is a service that allows users to save their sensitive documents like email conversations and chat conversations in the cloud. The service is mainly aimed at helping businesses maintaining their compliance requirements.

Apart from emails and chat messages, Google Vault also supports the following types of files.

• Google Drive files
• Google Group texts

An exciting feature of Google Vault is that it allows the users to pre-decide when they want to retain or archive the data. Google Vault is easy to use as it allows the user to quickly search for emails and chats. Google Vault allows companies to retrieve data from the accounts of those employees who have deleted the data. Google Vault hold is a feature of Google Vault that stores the data indefinitely, disallowing the employees to delete it. Google Vault empowers the organizations by letting them monitor the activities of users at certain time intervals.

Podcasts

Google Podcasts is a minimalistic podcasting app that satiates the hunger of podcast lovers. The user is greeted with a section called ‘For You’, which has the latest episodes of the podcasts the user has subscribed to, a tab showing the episodes in progress, and a tab showing the podcasts user has downloaded.

Google Podcasts has various categories like comedy, news, politics, sports, spirituality, and arts. Google uses AI to suggest recommendations based on the listening patterns of users. The home screen changes by giving out more relevant suggestions as the user uses the app. The users can add podcasts to their home screens to quickly play it as and when required.

This is what industry stalwarts think about Google Podcasts.

‘I think there’s no question that it will help bring more people into the podcasting world.’ – ERIK DIEHN, MIDROLL MEDIA

Podcasts also work seamlessly with various Google Assistant-powered devices like Google Home and Android phones, boosting the user experience. Google is acquiring startups like 60db to make Google Podcasts better.

Jamboard

Jamboard is Google’s digital whiteboard tool created for collaboration in classrooms and meetings. With its large 4K touchscreen display and cloud connectivity, it allowed multiple users to draw, write, and interact with content in real time.

Jamboard was especially helpful for remote teams and online education, supporting tools like Docs, Slides, and Drive directly within the board for a smooth working experience.

Jamboard has supported features like –

• Multi-user drawing and writing on the same board
• Integration with Google Workspace tools
• Sticky notes, shapes, and handwriting recognition
• Built-in webcam, mic, and speakers
• Sharing jams across devices
• Real-time updates for all collaborators
• Unlimited collaborators per session
• AI-powered handwriting and shape conversion

However, Google has announced that Jamboard will be phased out by the end of 2024. Users are encouraged to move their collaborative whiteboarding to other tools integrated with Google Workspace. While Jamboard played a strong role in visual collaboration, users will now transition to newer, supported solutions for their whiteboard needs.

Cloud search

Google Cloud Search is a search tool that allows the users to easily search for content throughout the G Suite products like Google Calendar, Google Slides, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Drive, and Gmail. Google Cloud search is equipped with assist cards, a system that allows the users to work on their recent files. Cloud Search also allows users to monitor upcoming meetings and events.

Some prominent features of Google Cloud Search:

• Search query suggestions
• Tracks meeting schedules
• Can use Google search operators
• Ability to search from anywhere
• Customizable search queries
• Nice search filters
• Find and contact people

Google has designed Cloud Search as the primary search tool for all G Suite apps. The tool allows the users to immediately search for shared documents, including comments, mentions, and responses. Google Cloud Search offers an intuitive search experience, where users can enter common words and phrases as search queries. For example, the users can type “emails sent yesterday” instead of typing the exact date, and Google Cloud Search will display the correct results.

Using the search filters, the users can easily customize their search queries. The users can choose to display the search results according to the G Suite product, the person who created the file, the file format, the date and time of creation, etc.

Classroom

Google Classroom is an online platform that enhances the learning experience in the physical classroom. It is part of the Google Apps for Education suite, which strives to enable paperless learning in the classroom.

Google Classroom is an excellent collaborative learning tool. It allows the teachers to create assignments, take online classrooms, grade the assignments, and monitor the students’ progress. Using the forms tool, the teachers can add images and multiple-choice questions, making learning more enjoyable. Using Google Classroom, the students can access the learning material uploaded by their teachers. The Inbox tool allows the students and teachers to find highlights and critical updates easily.

Google Classroom enables the teachers to send regular reports regarding a student’s performance to the parents.

Google Classroom Features:

• Promotes a paperless classroom.
• Instant collaboration between teachers and students.
• Simple to use.
• Allows teachers and parents to track a student’s progress better.

GMass

GMass is a mass campaign tool that the senders can use in conjunction with Gmail. The tool allows the senders to bypass the sending limits of Gmail through its enhanced distribution technology. GMass sends the emails in several days to ensure that the rules of Gmail are not violated.

Marketing managers know how painful it can be to maintain email lists; GMass extracts email addresses from the previous campaigns, saving time spent on adding the recipients again. The easy integration of GMass with Google sheets allows the senders to upload their email lists to GMass with ease.

One of the most critical features of GMass is that it automatically sends follow-ups and keeps on sending them until the sender receives a reply. GMass empowers a marketing campaign by allowing the senders to send replies in mass to the people who have responded to the email; this feature adds a touch of personalization to the email message. Using GMass, the senders can easily create a visually appealing email.

GMass Features:

• Open Tracking
• Click Tracking
• Twist Gmail’s Sending Limits
• Personalization
• Google Sheets Integration
• Email List Builder
• Scheduling
• Automatic Follow-up Emails
• Reply Management

Wrapping up

Google Waffle is the place to go if a user wants to uncover the hidden gems in the Google Universe. Right from taking online classrooms to securing the data, Google brings out interesting products that aim to make lives easier for all of us. The best part is that most of them are either free or are competitively priced, making them all the more accessible.

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