As Google+ officially closed shop in April 2019 for users, the search engine giant has kept the social networking platform only for its enterprise customers. Google on Monday, 6 July, officially rebranded Google+ as Google Currents.
The latest version of the app is now available for Android and iOS customers, and aligns to the Google Material Theme Design.
In a blog post, Google stated that all existing Google+ content will automatically be transferred to Currents once the company or the user has enrolled on the app.
Google Currents New Features
The new platform is tailored more towards businesses who have integrated the G Suit users. Here are some of the new changes to the networking platform:
- Users can simply post their questions and attach relevant documents or images. Other users in the company can then comment, give feedback and respond on the same post.
- Users can also track analytics of their posts.
- Leaders in an organisation can engage with their employees directly, with their posts given priority on the home screen, thus improving visibility.
- Connect with like-minded colleagues and find communities that match your interests. Follow tags on topics.
- Learn more about what is happening in other departments and across the organisation with trending tags.
Google+, although never exactly a successful platform, was marred by two major data leaks, potentially exposing data of tens of millions of users to outside developers.
One leak that was kept secret for months, and the other one, which leaked the data of 52.5 million people, prompted Google to prepone the shutdown by four months.
In both the cases, Google said there’s been no evidence that developers were aware of these bugs or took advantage of them.
Google has, on multiple occasions, acknowledged that Google+ has not been able to meet the expectations. In a blog post in October, Google's Ben Smith wrote that 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds long.
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