I know a few people who never really got Google+ and if I am being honest I would include myself in that category.
When it first came out I added some people in circles and then I pretty much ignored it for ages.
Then earlier today on Facebook some friends of mine were discussing how Google+ worked, seemingly oblivious to the changes which had just been announced.
Comments included:
-
I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in the planet that doesn’t understand how Google+ works.
- To be honest Google+ is like the Bermuda Triangle for me… I never know what happens as soon as I enter it and
- Google over complicates everything.
In under two years Google+ has grown to have:
- 190 million people active in the Google+ stream,
- 390 million active across Google (eg +1’ing apps in Google Play, making video calls in Gmail, sharing videos from YouTube)
So perhaps now would be a time to look at how Google+ operates now that it has been updated and upgraded.
Google has made three major changes to the way Google+ works by enhancing the:
- Stream
- Hangouts and
- Photos
Stream
The Google+ stream has been given a new design to allow it to work better across a range of devices from desktop machines to laptops, tablets and smartphones. Google says it has added even more to explore and the stream now has:
- a multi-column layout. Users will see one, two, or three columns of content depending on their screen size and orientation.
- photos and videos can fill the entire width of the stream, making them easier to view and
- new animations allow the sharebox to bounce, menus to slide and cards to flip and fade.
- related hashtags. Google will automatically tag your post. Click on the related hashtag to browse related content inline.
Hangouts
A new stand-alone version of Hangouts combines text, photos and live video across Android, iOS and your computer. This is a free app has features which include:
- More responsive messaging with photos and emoji in conversations to make them more personal.
- Conversations can be saved so you can return to them in the future, or deleted if you prefer.
- No more annoying notifications. When a notification is seen on one device, it is automatically cleared from your other Android devices and computers.
- Free face-to-face conversations with one person or to groups of people.
The Hangouts app can be downloaded from Google Play, the App Store, and the Chrome Web Store. It’s also part of Gmail and Google+.
Photos
This set of new features looks really cool.
Google says: “Great pictures aren’t taken, they’re made. And it’s the making part that many of us don’t have time for.
“We think everyone should be able to make beautiful photos, so today we’re launching a set of initiatives aimed at improving your photos automatically — basically your camera, plus Google’s cloud.”
Here are some of the key features:
- Auto Backup (aka Instant Upload). If you allow permission to do so, it will automatically back up your mobile photographs as you take them. Everyone receives unlimited free storage at standard size (2048px), and 15GB of free storage at full size.
- Auto Highlight. Upload all your holiday pictures for example. Auto Highlight removes duplicates, blurry images and poor exposures, while choosing pictures with the people you care about, landmarks, and other positive attributes. Simply visit the Photos page, and you’ll see your Highlights ready to share.
- Auto Enhance. This will improve brightness, contrast, saturation, structure, noise, focus… and dozens of other factors automatically. Upload some photos, then open the lightbox to see Google’s enhancements. (You can remove them if you don’t like them.)
- Auto Awesome. Features include…upload a sequence of photos, and AutoAwesome will try and animate them automatically. Upload family pictures and software will find everyone’s best smile and stitch them together into a single shot. Likewise you can upload a series of images taken side by side and AutoAwesome will make a single shot panoramic image out of them.
The new features will be rolling out over the next week or so.
Via: Google Blog