A couple of weeks ago, Google released a huge update to their Google+ application for iOS. The designers went back to the drawing board for almost every feature, the biggest change being the new stream. The news stream has been the heart of the Google+ application and has been completely redesigned to be more visual. Updates now feature huge pictures with text, +1s, and comments. As the user scrolls, stories fall into place with a slick animation.
Interestingly enough, the Android version was suspiciously absent during the iOS launch, though the official Google+ blog teased that the Android version would get “a few extra surprises.” Well the Google+ 2.0 update for Android is here! Let’s take a look at what those few extra surprises are.
Start a hangout from your phone
It’s surprising that this feature is an Android exclusive. Android users have an extra option to start a hangout from the phone while iOS users can only accept hangout requests.
This seems odd as Google Hangouts can be a serious mobile video conference competitor to apps like Skype or Apple’s own FaceTime. It’s strange to see Google missing out on the opportunity to steal some market share from Apple.
Starting a hangout from your Android phone is straight forward. Hit the back button from the news stream to access all of your options.
Hit Hangout and you will be presented with a text field to search for friends. Google+ populates a list of your friends below who have Google+ accounts that you can start a hangout with.
Download images
This may be a small feature but is really handy if you would like to download an image to keep. Android users can now download pictures from the news stream or from Google Messenger chats. To access this, tap on a photo in a status update and tap on the menu button. This will bring up the option to download the photo.
While these “few extra surprises” aren’t going to make anyone jump from iPhone to Android, they are nice little perks for Android users. Google will eventually have to integrate these features into the iOS version as well to offer the same integration on Android that may entice users to use Google+ instead of texting, Skype, or FaceTime.
