The option to change your "best available location" has been changed to "Who can see your Pinpoint location" on the Google+ settings page. This change of wording could be due to the privacy concerns of some and wanting to better understand what they are sharing. It appears the Google+ team is erring on the side of caution and changing the wording to "pinpoint", although for some users, the actual location is a couple of miles off, and meters at best.
Right now you'll be asking why I've bothered to even write an article about such a small update; while the update could just be about being more transparent on what sharing your location means, it could also mean much more! This update could be a tell-tale sign that the Google+ team is about to launch a re-branding of the location sharing service, and maybe one or two new features to boot. Here's why:
Pinpoint, With A Capital "P"
On first glance of the changed wording for the location sharing option, it seems that Google has made a grammatical error, capitalizing "Pinpoint". What if it isn't a mistake, but a name of a feature, or a less generalized replacement for "Locations"? Pinpoint sounds cool to me. |
| Changed wording in Google+ Location Settings |
The reason why I think such a feature could be coming is that they've changed the wording to the description of said option:
"Use pinpoint location sharing to allow your loved ones to see your precise current location."
This, of course is all speculation on my part, but Locations hasn't been updated since it was introduced to the Google+ app for Android months ago, and news on the Google+ front has been slow lately. A new feature would be very much welcome at this point.
What do you think? What location features would you like to see implemented?