Don't you love this time of year? You know what I'm talking about - #SeasonForShipping, and Google is in the festive spirit, dishing out updates aplenty to popular Google products. In the latest version of Google+ for Android (rolling out now), there are a few notable additions and improvements which delight.
Shake'n'Snow
My favourite new feature added to Google+ for Android is what I call "Shake'n'Snow" which does exactly what I described. Open up a photo in Google+ Photos and simply shake your device and watch the snow fall. Shake again to save the now snowy-animated photo to share with the people in your circles. I guess it's going to be a white Christmas after all.
+1 to Love
Here's another fun one, now when you tap the +1 button on a post, a burst of hearts will fly out, all in under a second, it's a pretty cute animation.
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| Go on, spread the love |
Unified Search
Search has also gotten some love in this update, and when I say love, I mean it is now actually useful. Previously, when you used search, it would bring up relevant posts, and that would be it. Thankfully in v4.2.2, searches are broader, fetching results of not only posts, but people, photos and communities too.
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| Search now fetches more than just a bunch of posts |
Enhanced Control of Notifications
Push notifications and Google+ is a great combination, but you may not want to be buzzed about certain notifications by certain circles or people. Now, by adjusting your "Who can notify me" settings, notifications from those people or circles will appear in "Everything else", which means that you can focus more on the people you care about, such as your friends and family.
This feature has also made its way to the desktop, which is a Godsend if you ask me.
This feature has also made its way to the desktop, which is a Godsend if you ask me.
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| Enhanced controls for notifications allow you to filter out the cruft |
Explore More in What's Hot
Exploring What's Hot is now easier with categories that allow you to dive deeper into what's trending with Music, Sports, Photography and more. Right now, the feature is US only (you lucky, lucky people) but is expected to expand to more languages and regions at some point down the line.
There is a smattering of other, smaller changes in this update, stuff like an adjusted Google+ icon which now aligns correctly next to the Google and Google Settings apps, and changes to fonts and more.
I should note that there does seem to be a force close bug with Locations, rendering the feature temporarily inaccessible, but hopefully a bugfix update is soon on the way.
Have you already received the Google+ Update? What's your favourite new feature?
Source: Jonathan Terleski - Google