Google Plus

Google+ gains search autocomplete, Reply button on posts and more in latest update

Google+, the search giant's social thing, introduced a few new features in its mobile application for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, which can be downloaded at no charge from the App Store. Google+ 5.5 for iOS now includes search autocomplete, allowing you to search faster with suggestions appearing as you type.

The new Reply button on each comment lets you respond to posts with fewer taps and you can now create and delete circles from within the app's People tab.

Google+ for iOS gets a facelift and new features in latest update

Following yesterday's overhaul of Google+ Communities and Collections on the web, today Google+ for iOS gets bumped to version 5.0 and thoroughly redesigned.

The new-look Communities and Collections are now accessible through the new Google+ 5.0 for iOS app. This edition of the software includes other improvements, too, including switching between multiple accounts and expanded options for sharing with folks outside Google+.

Google+ looks a little different today…

Google's ailing Google+ platfom is getting a major facelift today as the Internet company continues to struggle for relevancy in social. Today, a brand new Google+ design went live and it puts the Communities and Collections features front and center.

You should see a prompt to try out the redesigned interface when visiting your Google+ profile through a browser. Revamped Google+ mobile apps for iOS and Android devices will hit in the coming days.

Google+ Collections are now available within Google’s native application for iPhone and iPad

Google+ Collections are now available within the just-updated Google+ app for the iPhone and iPad, which also contains performance improvements and bug fixes.

Introduced back in May of this year, Collections is basically a feature of Google+ that allows you to group your posts around shared interests and passions. After going live in the official Google+ app for Android and on the web, Google+ Collections can now be browsed on your iPhone and iPad.

You soon won’t need a Google+ account to enjoy the best of Google

You can kiss your little-used Google+ account goodbye once and for all as the Internet giant today confirmed the disentangling of its failed social network from YouTube, Gmail and other services.

And in the future, there'll even be an option to remove your public Google+ profile from your underlying Google Account, a tell-tale sign that the management has admitted defeat in the battle for supremacy in the social arena.

Bradley Horowitz, Google's Vice President of Sharing, said “it doesn’t make sense for your Google+ profile to be your identity in all the other Google products you use.”

Google+ gains iPhone 6 support, iOS 8 Share extension and polls

Google's official iOS client for the company's social network, Google+, has finally received a refresh for the new iPhones, more than three months after the handsets have hit stores.

In addition to native support for the new 1,334-by-750 and 1,920-by-1,080 screen resolutions of the new iPhones, the updated software brings a useful Share extension allowing you to send stuff to Google+ from other apps, the ability to vote on polls embedded in Google+ posts and bug fixes.

Google+ for iOS gains Stories support, adds new photo editor with filters and more

Following a stream of ongoing WWDC keynote coverage yesterday, the Internet giant Google issued an update to its Google+ iOS client containing some newsworthy new features.

The free iPhone and iPad app has been bumped to version 4.7.0 and now offers support for nice-looking digital travelogues, called Stories, that Google unveiled last month.

For those unfamiliar with Google+ Stories, it's an album feature that works by combining your photos, videos and location data into interactive presentations. And now the iOS client lets you create this beautiful trip summaries. Other changes, refinements and feature additions are listed right after the break...

Google+ Stories combines your media into beautiful digital travelogues

Google today announced new photography and video features for its Google+ social thing.

Available later this week on Android and the web and coming soon to iOS, Google+ Stories and Google+ Movies offer digital travelogues and movies created automatically from your Google+ photos and videos and location data.

The feature is basically on auto-pilot.

Google is constantly analyzing the photos and videos you upload to Google+, along with the places you’ve visited. It then automatically uses your best and most popular media to create full-screen presentations...

Google+ gains pinned posts, new location reporting and history settings, more

It's been a while since the Internet giant Google updated the Google+ client for the iPhone and iPad, available free of charge in the App Store. Last we heard, Google+ was refreshed more than three months ago with such new features as full-resolution photo and video backup, inline translations and the ability to share your location, to mention but a few.

In today's Google+ update, the app has gained the ability to pin posts to the top of a community stream while allowing you to adjust your history settings and location reporting...

Google updates Picasa, adds Google+ Auto Backup standalone Mac tool

Google has been offering its standalone Picasa Mac app for years and while it may lack ease of use and elegance of Apple's own iPhoto and Aperture software, by no means is it a slouch.

Matter of fact, I've been using the program for years as my primary point of entry for sorting, geotagging and organizing images in folders prior to importing them to Aperture for advanced touch ups and album management.

But aside from maintenance updates, Picasa for Mac spent much of 2013 unchanged in terms of features, so much so that I began to suspect that Google could perhaps discontinue it in order to make room for a standalone Google+ Photos app for the Mac.

Instead, yesterday's update has proven there's still life left in Picasa. In addition to a few new features and complementary fixes, the improved Picasa also brings out a brand new standalone tool allowing you to synchronize a batch of photos and videos residing on your Mac with Google+ Photos...

Google+ gains full-res photo/video backup, location sharing, inline translation and more

The search monster Google has posted another update to its Google+ app for the iPhone and iPad, this time bringing a new iOS 7 perk: the ability to upload your iOS Camera roll photos and videos automatically and in glorious full resolution, to a private album on Google+ Photos, viewable only by you (unless specified otherwise). This brings the iOS app to parity with its Android counterpart.

It's really useful because your photos get sent to the cloud in the background, even if you haven't opened the app. You could previously enable Camera backup in Google+, but this would not back up full resolution images and the app would upload for only a few minutes after it quit.

It's a very interesting addition that turns the Google+ thing into a viable cloud backup of your iOS Camera roll. This Google+ update comes with other tweaks and nice-to-haves so jump past the fold if you're interested to learn more...

New ways to awesomize your Google+ Photos

Photography fans are in for a nice treat as Google today rolled out a series of photo-related announcements. iDB already told you about full size uploads and background sync, coming soon to Google+ for iOS, and the new HDR Scape effect in Google-owned Snapseed app which can deliver results comparable to high dynamic range imaging, but working from a single photo.

But Google's only warming up. The company has also unveiled scheduled Hangouts On Air and rolled out a bunch of enhancements to Google+ Photos on the web such as Auto Awesome Movie, Auto Enhance Action and Eraser and much, much more.

I've got a quick rundown for you ready right after the jump...