By most accounts, Google+ is a major hit. Notable early adopters include Ancestry.com founder Paul Allen (the lesser), who estimates that Google’s brand new social networking service has racked up 10 million users in two weeks. For what it's worth, both iJustine and Alyssa Milano are posting daily, and some have started calling it Scoble+ -- a dig at former Microsoft employee and social networking guru Robert Scoble, who seems to post every five minutes.
We have to admit, though: Google+ is innovative. You can divide up friends, family, and that strange guy in accounting by placing them into Circles. When you post, you choose who can see your content. It means only a few people see pictures of your kids but everyone can read your quip about Michele Bachmann. Google+ automatically maintains these Circle divisions to keep your content safe.
Like any worthwhile social network, Google+ offers a smartphone app, which for now, only works on Android. Amazingly, you can perform most of the tasks from the app that you can from a full browser: add a photo, find contacts and add them to Circles, start an IM chat, etc. One really useful feature: you can configure your phone to automatically upload any new photo you take with the built-in camera. However, the Android app does not let you upload video, and you can’t start a Hangout for video chats.
In the visual walkthrough below, we explain some of the important features in the app and help you find a few of the more obscure functions, including a way to set a ringtone for new Google+ notifications. Note that Google is known for a fairly rapid release cycle – some of the features in the Google+ app could change by tomorrow. In fact, a couple of new features appeared in the Settings area after a recent update.
One of the best ways to stay in tune with any updates is to follow key insiders, such as Dave Besbris (the engineering director for Google+) and Shimrit Ben-Yair (a Google+ product manager).
To use Google+ on Android, make sure you’re signed in to the same Google account on your phone as the one that work with Google+. And, if you have not received an invite to the service yet, contact the author on Twitter @jmbrandonbb, and we’ll try to hook you up.
Google+ is indeed a worthwhile social network -- it has a trim interface with no advertising, and Circles help you organize contacts easily. As an Android app, Google+ works extremely well for helping you connect with people from a mobile device. It's too early to call it indispensable, but we can imagine Google+ turning into a must-use
