Google__ The Missing Manual - Kevin Purdy [68]
Mobile Web Browser
If your smartphone isn’t from Apple and isn’t running Android, you’re not left out in the cold. On a Windows Phone, a Palm phone running webOS, some newer BlackBerry devices, and most other portable gadgets with a web browser, you can still get into Google+. Simply head to plus.google.com in your phone or device’s browser.
TIP
You can access Google+ via a browser even if you’re using an iPhone or Android phone—it works really well in those devices’ browsers, in fact. So if you don’t want to keep an app installed on your device, or if you want to access Google+ by using a separate Google account from the one the app is tied to, the mobile-browser version is a great option.
At the bottom, you’ll see either the email address linked to your Google account or a “Sign in” link. If you need to sign in, tap the link, enter your Google account email address and password, and you’ll arrive back at the Google home page.
If you happen to be viewing any other Google web page in your mobile browser, there’s another easy way to get to Google+: Tap the “more” link in the upper-right corner of the page, and you’ll see a whole bunch of shiny icons appear. At the very top is your profile picture, and below that are a few categories. Tap Apps, and then tap the Google+ logo (it’s first in line). You may then be asked to give Google permission to access your location and use some storage space on your phone. You should definitely grant it permission to do both so Google+ can work its best. (Google+ will still work if you don’t let it use your location, but it won’t if you don’t grant it permission to use some space.)
Streams, Posts, and Circles
EACH MOBILE VERSION OF Google+ looks and feels a little different, but they’re all fairly similar in how you use them. In fact, the Android and iPhone apps are almost exactly alike, except for a few aesthetic differences and some minor details.
If you’re using the Android or iPhone app, opening Google+ for the first time brings up a straightforward home page. On Android, it looks like the image to the left of this paragraph.
The home page looks almost identical on an iPhone. All the main sections of Google+ that you see in your computer’s web browser—Stream, Photos, Circles, and Profile—get their own icons, and there’s also a new Messenger option you’ll learn about starting on Starting a Messenger Session (Apps Only).
Streams
Tap the Stream icon to check out what’s going on with the people in our circles. (On an iPhone, you may see a message asking you to let Google+ use your location, if you haven’t already granted that permission. You don’t have to allow this, but doing so lets you view the “Nearby” circle described in just a bit.)
Pretty familiar, no? You see posts from people in your streams, with notes about their visibility, links, images, comments, +1s, and so on.
Near the top of the screen are three headings, which represent streams: Nearby, All Circles (or just Circles), and Incoming. Simply swipe left or right to change streams.
As you’d guess, the All Circles (or Circles) stream shows posts by everyone in all your circles. Nearby is an interesting stream. It includes posts by friends who happen to be geographically close to you, as well as Google+ members you don’t know who’ve written Public posts and shared their locations. (To view this stream, you have to allow the app or your browser to use your location information.) Incoming is the same stream you met back in Chapter 3 (Other posting tips)—it shows posts by folks who’ve added you to their circles, but you haven’t added them back.
How do you view the stream for one of your circles? On an Android phone, press the Menu button, and then choose “Select circles” from the menu that comes up. You’ll see a list of your circles with checkboxes that you can turn on to include them in the streams you can thumb through with left and right swipes.
If you’re using the iPhone app or accessing Google+ via your