Google Removes the Google+ Requirement from Its Services - http://clapway.com/2015/07/28/google-removes-the-google-requirement-from-its-services-277/

Google has announced its plans to further separate its sinking ship of a social media platform, Google+, from its other services.

Crushed Dreams

When Google launched Google+ back in June 2011, it was touted as another mythical Facebook-killer. The platform was exclusive and users needed to be invited in order to use the service. Even with the gate, Google managed to accumulate 20 million unique visitors to the site within the first three months of its launch.

Unfortunately for Google, Google+ just didn’t pick up the steam it needed in order to close the massive gap Facebook had on it. In an official blog post, Google mentioned that users weren’t really fond of using Google as their social “identity” when using Google’s services, though they did like the convenience of using one account to log into the services.

Moving Away from Google+

So, with that in mind, Google has decided to let users create, share, communicate, create a YouTube channel and more with just a normal Google Account. The first step involves separating YouTube comments from Google+ posts. This is a welcomed change since YouTube comments have a way of diluting legitimate discussion due to the fast-paced nature of the commenting system and its incoherent formatting.

Google+ Will Find Life After Death

Bradley Horowitz, VP of streams, photos, and sharing, has stated that Google won’t be giving up on Google+, however.

“We’re going to continue focusing Google+ on helping users connect around the interest they love, and retire it as the mechanism by which people share and engage within other Google products,” said Horowitz.

The idea is to shift the focus of Google+. Rather than trying to use it as a platform to encompass all of Google’s services, it will simply exist as a way for others to connect through what they love. With this in mind, Google+ will still be launching its newest feature, Google+ collections. This feature introduces a new way for users to group their posts by topic.

Every collection will be focused on a specific topic, allowing users to have a streamlined way of organizing their interests.

With Google+ Photos recently canned and now Google+ being separated from all of Google’s other services, it will be interesting to see what other changes Google will be announcing in the future.

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Google Removes the Google+ Requirement from Its Services

#Google releases a feature on #maps that would be great for those who tend to #lose #everything. - http://clapway.com/2015/07/22/google-maps-now-lets-you-retrace-your-steps-with-your-timeline-124/

Google is now coming out with a new “timeline” for Google Maps and will be expected within the next couple of weeks. This feature will allow you to view your entire location history from Google Maps. This will be based on data that is pulled from all of your devices when you are signed into your Google account. Google calls this new Your Timeline a useful way to remember and look at the places that you were at on a given day, month or year.

YOU CAN CURRENTLY SEE YOUR HISTORY ON GOOGLE MAPS, BUT NOT YOUR TIMELINE

You are already able to look at your location history by looking into your My Account dashboard that is associated with your Google account. The difference between the current viewings and the Your Timeline is that it will be available in a more user-friendly manner and visible from the Google Maps menu on the Android or desktop. Google Photos users will also see any pictures that they took on any day at a given location within the Your Timeline feature.

This is a part of the information resulting from the privacy policy change back in 2012. Many are impressed with Google making this information that it is collected easily available to you on Google Maps. As a part of the privacy issue that this could lead to, Google said that this information that is collected about you is only available to you. Despite all of these privacy policies enacted, many users are unhappy with the idea of the new Your Timeline.

GOOGLE CLAIMS IT IS ONLY VISIBLE TO YOU

Google is saying that Your Timeline is private and visible only to you and only when you’re signed in to your Google account. You also will only be able to see Your Timeline if you have enabled location history storing with Google. Google Now users on mobile devices that have this featured enabled should see this timeline, unless they have manually disabled it.

YOU CAN DELETE YOUR HISTORY WHENEVER

Google also says that you can delete a specific day, location or even the full history whenever you want. Location settings. Locations that you frequently visit can also be named such as your home.

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If this new feature doesn’t work for those of you who are prone to losing things, maybe this will:

Google Maps Now Lets You Retrace Your Steps With Your Timeline