Google updated Google+ for tablets and gave it a slick new UI. 
Google updated its Google+ app for Android smartphones and tablets Wednesday with a slick new UI and new features announced at its annual Google I/O developer conference.
Google’s social network, Google+, just celebrated its one-year birthday. The service now boasts 150 million active users, with 50 percent signing in daily, according to Google’s latest figures. And active Google+ users are spending more than 12 minutes a day in the stream, up 9 minutes a day from a few months ago. More of those minutes are coming from mobile users than web users, so it makes sense that Google would optimize that stream, especially for tablet owners.
Google+ for tablets features a redesigned UI. The app is image-heavy, like before, but now it takes on an almost Windows 8-like feel with post images of two different sizes. If Google detects a story is picking up momentum in terms of +1′s and comments, it will be shown as a larger image rather than a small one. In landscape, the app scrolls sideways; in portrait, it flicks vertically.
You can change what stream you’re viewing by tapping a drop-down menu at the top left of the app. You can share a thought or photo, or your location by clicking in the upper right of the app, which also houses an icon you can click to refresh your stream.
As you’re flicking to see older Google+ posts, the rectangular posts fly into view individually, slotting into place as an informational mosaic.
Screenshot: Christina Bonnington/Wired
For smartphones, the app takes on a similar look, despite just being updated in May. Your friends’ profile images are circular now. Posts are all the same rectangular size, and as on the tablet app, a hearty flick sends images flying into view with a speedy physicality. Flick too hard in the tablet app, though, and posts can sometimes get stacked on top of one another like a pile-up in a traffic jam.
You can tap the Google+ logo in the upper left for access to your profile, photos, and other features like Hangouts, your Circles, and the newest edition, Events.
Google+ Events is Google’s answer to Facebook events. Where Facebook, and other event-organizing services, tend to focus on the invitation and before-the-event process, Google+ Event is designed to be a utility before, during and after events.
When you create an event, you can invite Google+ friends, as well as those who aren’t on the social network using their email addresses. You’re given a one-page form to describe the event’s information, along with the option to choose one of a few dozen “cinemagraphs.” These are cover-like images that give your invitation a dose of color and personality. Google+ Events features deep Google Calendar integration, so when you open an invitation you’ve received, you can see if you have any conflicts straight away. After it’s added to your calendar, when you click the event to get more details, a smaller rendition of the cinemagraph invitation is shown.
During an event, Google+ has a feature called “party mode,” which lets you and friends at the event share photos taken at the event in real-time. When you’re in party mode, the Google+ app shows a green icon.
Party mode gets activated in Google+.
Once the event is over, the event page turns into a memory hub of sorts. Google+ arranges the photos in chronological order, and photos that receive the most +1s and comments are pushed up to an Event Highlights section at the top of the event page.
All in all, the Google+ updates seem thoughtful: Features are now arranged in a more sensible way, and Google+ posts are situated in a more efficient layout for browsing. And for a Google Calendar-reliant user like myself, Events seems like a Google+ feature that could get some heavy use.
The new Google+ is available for smartphones and tablets today from Google Play, and will be available for iPad users in the near future.
Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/google-plus-tablet-events/
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