Notification Filters, Faster Custom Tabs Now on Google+ for Android 7.3.0

After a quiet week without any updates, the Google+ team has come out with v7.3.0 for the Android app.

Notification Filters

One of the most interesting features of 7.3.0 is that notifications are now categorised into three sections: All, Unread and Other Updates. The first two are pretty self-explanatory though the last one is pretty vague-sounding. No doubt, this will make it easier to see who exactly +1’d or commented on your posts, as well as those who added you to your circles.

Speedier Chrome Custom Tabs

In the last update, Chrome Custom Tabs made their much-awaited debut in the Google+ app (though it did appear for a number of users beforehand). Think of Custom Tabs as a lite version of the full Chrome app; you’ve got your share button and settings in the top-right, where you can easily switch to Chrome, not to mention the header bar matching the app’s colour.

Now when you’re on a WiFi connection, the loading speeds have gotten just that little bit faster. Take a look at the video below to see it in action:


If Custom Tabs aren’t your thing and you’d rather have the actual Chrome app load instead, you can easily turn it off in the settings.

Hiding of the Top Header in Collections & Communities

Having enough screen real-estate on a mobile device is very important, especially if your screen is on the small side. Google+ for Android 7.0 introduced the automatic hiding of the bottom bar, and in 7.3.0, the top header does the same thing whenever you’re scrolling through Collections and Communities.

In addition to these, you can now select multiple items at once in the Activity Log, a Community moderation mode giving moderators the ability to remove a flagged post and/or report it as spam when banning a member, and the return of the search autocomplete.

Of course, we can’t talk about any Google+ update without mentioning those squashed bugs. This time, 10 of them were fixed, as well as 4 accessibility issues being addressed.

If this update hasn’t shown up on your device yet, don’t worry - just head on over to APKMirror (which has a brand-new Material Design UI, btw).