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We updated our post a few minutes ago, and as some of you are already discovering, the Google+ update for Android is now finally live in the Google Play Store. I took it upon myself to screen cap some of the key differences between the old version (weighing in at 26.58MB), and the beefed up new version (33.01MB) with Snapseed photo editing built right in.
First off, the sidebar has been given some sing cleaning with Google removing “Local” from the Google+ sidebar, replacing it instead with “Locations.” Pre-update, Local was simply used to forward you to the Maps application for looking up restaurants and businesses, whereas this new Locations option shows you a map view of where all your Google+ friends are located. Think of it as Latitude but for Google+.
User profile pages have been spruced up with a new design and tabbed layout for quickly jumping between About, Posts, and Photos. Selecting Hangouts from the sidebar now forwards you over to the actual Hangouts application (formerly Google Talk). Google+ Messenger messages are now archived, but politely ask you to begin making the transition on over to Hangouts (although users can still reply and initiate messages from Messenger).
Google+ settings are now a lot more streamlined, and look similar to the standard Android settings application, complete with icons as a visual cue as to what’s inside. Oh, and in case you missed it, “Instant Upload” is now referred to as “Auto Backup” in the new Google+ settings, and by default auto-enhance and auto-awesome are enabled if you have your pics set to auto-upload from your device.
Photos are what seem to be getting the most amount of love (and boy, did they need it). Now Google+ offers a much better grid view of your photos, allowing users to view by Highlights, Photos, Albums, or Photos of You. Selecting an image and pressing the menu button now shows a new list of options, the most important being “download image” no longer available (possibly buried somewhere). Of course, the biggest attraction is the new Snapseed intagration which can be opened by selecting the little pencil icon. From there, users can choose from a list of standard hipster-filters, or tweak the image in other ways. After editing, Google+ reminds you that the original images — before the changes — is still saved and can be restored at any time. Nice.
And that’s just gonna about wrap it up for the changes to the Google+ application for Android. Curious to hear your guys’ thoughts on all the changes. Is it for the better? Or is Google+ a confusing labyrinth of submenus and options? If you haven’t yet, you can download the update for yourself via the Play Store link below.
AWESOOOOOOM! JUST AWESOM!! (:
Better but hangouts still suck. Don’t know who is on-line. Till that is fixed it is a bust.
Offline people are greyed out. It is very clear–not sure why everyone is missing this.
If it worked. I had my wife’s phone on with Hangouts running and she never turned from gray. Looked a hour later and still gray. It does not work. Not clear for me and many others. Google FIX IT!
some people have multiple google accounts (and therefore multiple hangout accounts) so make sure she’s signed into the one you are trying to message, and then you’ll see her online.
People are too lazy to even pay attention anymore
Great, I now have no idea how to video chat with my mom on her Nexus 7. Can anyone help?
If both of you have updated to the new hangouts/google+ app, it shouldn’t be a prob. Open it, swipe the right side over to center, and select the contact. Just did it with my brother on his Nexus 7
It wants me to invite her by email or phone. What about just buzzing her Nexus 7 like it used to? I figured out I have to search for her in family contacts and then it works. I wish she was one of my frequent contacts, instead of these contacts that I have never once called or video chatted with.
I wish g- would just die so they wouldn’t force it on us any more.
Photo editing is better. Better UI than Sanpspeed.
Wish they would just bring back v2.5, which I couldn’t get to run on v4.2. That was the last non-borked version they released that was mostly text (great for phones), and you could still long-press on a post to mute.
I wish I could open your screen shots for better/larger viewing.
some sing cleaning? :p
Does this mean that I need to uninstall Snapseed as a standalone app if I use it for all my picture editing?
Still no swipable sidebars…come on Google you use it in music,books,YouTube etc so why not in Google + where it makes sense