Google is making available a new third party web app store for its Google Drive service, according to a company announcement on Thursday. Google is calling these apps add-ons, and they are aimed at Docs, Drive, and Sheets users.
The apps are created solely by third party developers at this time, and they allow users to create customized email templates, or do things such as signing a document.
For example, there is an add-on named EasyBib, and its task is to allow the user to create bibliographies by scouring the Internet for sources. The user would then be able to choose a style, and insert the bibliography without ever having to leave the document. It sounds like a good idea, one that might keep Google ahead of Microsoft where online document editing is concerned on the web.
"You use Google Docs and Sheets to get all sorts of stuff done-whether you're staying up late to finish that final paper or just getting started on a new project at the office. But to help take some of that work off your shoulders, today we're launching add-ons-new tools created by developer partners that give you even more features in your documents and spreadsheets," according to Google via the Drive blog.
How to access the store?
There's a new add-on tab from within sheets and docs; users are required to select it. From there, click "get add-ons," and then choose from the small number of apps available. Once the required app is installed, it can be used from within Sheets, Docs, and even Google Drive.
These apps are basically extensions of the service Google provides, and it should be seen as a smart move by the search giant.
To gain access to the available add-ons in the store, users are required to upgrade to the newest version of Sheets, which was launched back in December of 2013.
This isn't the first time we've seen something similar to what Google is doing. Microsoft has done it before with its Office apps for the desktop. However, the company failed to deliver a similar service for Office Online, allowing Google to strike first.
Still, Microsoft does allow users to download templates for Word and Excel via its new marketplace.
