The much talked about Google Plus also has an Android app (and soon an iOS app as well). Google is constantly opening up more invites and the user base is growing rapidly. I believe they broke 10 Million users last week, which is quite a good size group for how long they've been open, especially considering they are still in semi-private beta! If you are a Google fan, or even just a social network addict, then I suggest that you attempt to get in to the Google Plus beta, and get this app.
The Stream page displays the most recent updates from those whom you are following. To interact with any post you tap on it which brings up another screen. In this screen you can read and post comments as well as +1. The one thing I don't like is that you can't +1 a comment like you can on the website, I'm sure that they are working on this but for now it is a little annoying.
Also accessible from the Stream screen is a Nearby list showing you a list of public posts from nearby, this screen is hiding just to the left of the Stream screen. To the right is a page listing Incoming. You can also add your circles to the list of pages you can swipe through.
One thing to mention about the Google+ app is that it will automatically upload all new images to a private Picasa album, unless you go into the settings and uncheck the box called "Instant Upload" that is. Now, it is private, but still it is a little unnerving to suddenly have all new images being uploaded. Also this could be a huge data hog if you have a limited bandwidth. Now, if you DO want this enabled there is also a setting to choose between only uploading pictures via mobile, pictures and mobile via mobile, or both via wi-fi only. I was disappoined that you cannot view people from your Circles albums, or even to sort the images from your circles by user for that matter.
The profile screen is pretty simple, when you first load a profile. You can access your profile from the main screen, to access other people's profiles click their profile image next to a post they are in. You can also manage what circles they are in directly from their profile page. Simply click on the button below their name and you can add and remove them from circles.
In the image below you see the Circles window. Circles are, well, they are exactly what I hoped Facebook Groups would be, away to post a status and choose a group of people that can see it. When posting you can choose to share with on person, several people, a Circle, or several Circles or a combination of these. I have to say that I was surprised how much control you have over people and Circles in the app, I was not expecting to be able to add people to/remove them from Circles.
~UPDATE~ As my buddy XionTawa pointed out I forgot to mention Huddles! Which is really sad considering he's one of the ones I'm tested Disco with as well as Facebook's Beluga (which I will review soon), both are essentially the same as Huddles. In case you are wondering, a huddle is essentially a chat room that you choose the members.
When you tap the Huddle button it brings up a list of your open huddles. When you create a Huddle, you can include an entire circle if you like, or just specific members, or even one member if you so choose. Google Huddles can be yet another way to chat with friends and possibly remove SMS from your cellphone plan if that is something you would like.
Now, there are a few things I dislike about Huddles. One, you can only chat with people who also have the app installed and running on their Android/iOS device. There does not appear to be any way to access Huddles from the web interface, which to me is a pretty big flaw. I am sure that they are working on this though, probably going to revamp Google Chat while they're at it.
Another thing, when you send a URL, it is not click-able. I'm not sure how this got released with that flaw... Regardless, it is still a very good chat app. One more thing, it is FAST. Like WICKED FAST! When chatting with my wife, it usually has notified her of a new message before my screen has even updated showing that my message was sent...
All in all the Google Plus app is really amazing. The few things that I didn't like I'm sure are working on updates to these things and will release an update "soon" that will fix them and add new features.
~ The Geeky Farmer ~
