I am pretty sure Google+ Local will get some new features of its own soon. Why? On first glance, it is basic, very basic. It hasn't even had any love from Google in a while, as far as both the desktop and mobile side goes.
Let's compare:
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| The current design |
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| Old design |
Places are now displayed in a list of cards, which fits nicely with the design trend started with Google Now.
There are tabs along the bar above "Recommended places near x", but will only displayed when actually clicking on a filter on the top right of a card in Local, which I find quite odd. Clicking on "View all" on the "From top reviewers" card will bring up said tabbed bar which includes the following filters:
- Everything
- From top reviewers
- People like you
- Just for you
- Your circles
Clicking on "Everything" will take you back to the landing page in Local, and the tabs will disappear again. Odd.
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| The tabs would be an improvement to the UI over the previous, if it was consistent. |
Apart from the filter tabs, nothing else has changed apart from the flattened style, making it consistent with the rest of Google+.
I'm almost certain we'll see some UI improvements and some added features for Local sometime soon, probably when the new Google Maps is launched to the public.
I'm almost certain we'll see some UI improvements and some added features for Local sometime soon, probably when the new Google Maps is launched to the public.