With an all new interface and awesome features, the new Google+ App is all set to rock on Android devices. This update is perhaps one of the biggest redesigns applied to the app since its arrival. The update brings about many changes like the look and feel of the app, navigation and a brand new feature named as Stories. This is indeed a rollover in terms of design and features and the changes are getting appreciated too. So, here’s a brief walk-through of the changes.
Table of Contents
The new two-panel screen is quite a dramatic change that people are going to enjoy with this update. With a bright red bar at the top, contrastingly against the whites and grays elsewhere, Google has gone all spunky. Also, the left slide-in drawer and status update bar at the bottom is gone. Instead, a secondary bar is present at the top of the screen. You can change the content you want to view viz. circles, communities, what’s hot and nearby by clicking on the “Everything” listing at the top. A search button is present on the home screen, which makes it quite obvious as this is Google we are talking about.
Hangouts are no longer quickly accessible from Google+ app. The accounts can be switched by clicking the name at the top; a list will be populated including all the other accounts or the pages you manage and you just need to select the desired option.
Pull-to-refresh and a dedicated refresh option in the menu are still present. Although, the options are not available for the individual post view, you can refresh the post by choosing the option from menu separately.
The bottom bar is replaced with a red pencil having a white circle around it; clicking it will provide you a more general editing window where you can share location, mood, links or images along with the message.
You can even disable resharing or commenting on your post now.
There is as such no change in the Photos section apart from the addition of a new feature called “Stories”. With this amazing feature, Google can now pull together your posts, photographs, videos, check-ins and travels to make a Story.
For Instance, suppose you went on a trip to some place, say San Francisco. Google+ will pull all the pictures, check-ins and posts during that time period, and will create an exciting travelogue. Even you can choose which locations, photographs and other things to add in this auto-generated Story, and name it according to your choice.
These stories look awesome on both the app and the web, and similar to other auto generated content, you have the option to choose which one to share and which one not. So, next time you plan a trip around a city or country, be ready to share instant photographs and posts to get a story worth sharing with your friends and family.
This newly-designed Google+ app is an excellent step in the design direction and surely deserves an applaud. The use of bold colors, simplified navigation and all new posting interface is simply awesome. The addition of “Stories” is a great job done by Google making each and every person an amazing photographer and a story teller while all the real work is taken over by the app itself. If this represents a new design direction coming to more of Google apps in the future, we seriously can’t wait to see the updates.
