Hear that big sucking sound in Mountain View, California? That’s the sound of G+’s gravitational pull slowly pulling all of ‘s vast ecosystem into one central location: The social singularity.
As ge & Co continue their piecemeal process of weaving G+ into all-things-, the latest casualty appears to be the good ol’ Android Gallery app.
Earlier this week, Mountain View introduced ay editions of the skinny minnie Sony Xperia Z Ultra lackluster G d 8.3 tablets. ile unsubsidized damn-near-stock Android Geditions mean very little to most consumers, these devices are de facto developer editions provide hints of where Android may be headed. In this case, it is an apparently Gallery-less future.
As noted by Android Central, the newest G tablets, which boast the absolutely latest versions of Android, have ditched Gallery in favor of the G+ otos app.
This app switcheroo seems to falls in line with a larger photo-centered strategy. has gone to great lengths to re-invent its social network as a go-to destination for photo enthusiasts complete with a suite of new image services, most of which we’ve been big fans of.
This man was not a fan of Gallery.
It’s a G+ ecosystem, we just live in it
If this sort of move towards direct G+ integration sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Earlier this summer, the company killed its generic Messenger app in favor of the more robust G+-centered Hangouts app.
Mountain View has made various moves to evolve G+ into a digital-wide service built around web services (Gmail video chats open into us, YouTube comments can only be left via a us account, etc.).
These moves were probably necessary for G+’s long-term viability. ile us may have started life as a Facebook wannabe, it quickly devolved into a sparsely populated digital clubhouse for employees, developers, tech nerds. (I say this as a fan of G+, but it’s true).
My guess is that we will see even greater integration of G+ into ( Android) properties moving forward. It will be interesting to see if the strategy will actually bring more eyeballs into the G+ proper.
at does it all mean for you, fair Android user? Depends on your digital lifestyle.
A seamless, cross-property integration has its benefits: e.g. the photos you take with your phone instantly being available online in your G+ folder (a functionality you can shut-off in settings). But centralized integration also has its drawbacks: sswords can become compromised, government agencies can be given keys to the back door.
As with all things in life, variety is the key. st weigh your digital options as they relate to how you internet.
