Google__ The Missing Manual - Kevin Purdy [69]
What about all that stuff in the toolbar at the top of the stream page? Exactly what you see there depends on which app you’re using.
On an Android phone, the button in the upper-left corner changes to show which section you’re in, with a left-pointing arrow at the very edge. Tap the section’s icon or the arrow to head back one level—just like tapping your phone’s Back button. The pencil-and-pad icon in the upper-right corner is how you create a new post.
The iPhone toolbar is similar. To get back to the home page, tap the square that’s divided into smaller squares (the visual cue being, “Here’s how you get back to all the other parts of the app”). Just like on an Android phone, the checkmark lets you check in to places (Including your location (a.k.a. “checking in”)) and the pencil creates a new post. You don’t get a camera icon, but you can snap or choose a photo by either going to the Photos section of the app, or by tapping the pencil icon to start a new post and then tapping the camera icon (to take a picture) or the stack-of-photos icon (to share a saved photo). Uploading from Your Phone in Chapter 5 has the details.
The mobile-browser version of Google+ is almost identical to the iPhone app version, except that you see a Home button instead of the divided square, and you can pull the stream down (drag downwards with your finger) and then let go of it to refresh it.
Writing a Post
To start a post, on the Stream screen, tap the pencil icon. You’ll see a blank canvas where you can type your thoughts, add a photo, or share your location.
The Android and iPhone post-writing screens differ a bit, but they’re both easy to use. Tap the main blank box to bring up a keyboard so you can type what you want to share, and then type what you want to say. (You might then need to dismiss the keyboard to navigate further—do that by tapping the Back button on an Android phone or the keyboard icon just above the keyboard itself on an iPhone.) Next, tap the + button next to the field that lists the circles you’re posting to (on an Android phone) or the text “Your circles” (on an iPhone) to choose who to share with. Tap Done when you have the right circles and people selected. If you’d like to find a specific person to share this post with, tap the magnifying glass icon, start typing his name, and then tap his name when it shows up.
At the bottom of the Android screen where you write posts (shown above) are three icons: a marker (or “pin”) that represents your location, a camera, and a stack of photos. If the marker is blue, rather than gray, that means your location is attached to this post; it’s listed in the box just below your post text. (You’ll learn more about including locations in posts on Including your location (a.k.a. “checking in”).) If you’re looking to illustrate your post, tap the camera to shoot a photo of something and post it. Tap the stack of photos to choose an image that’s already stored on your phone. (See Chapter 5 for more about photos.)
The iPhone app’s post-writing screen is similar, just with the photo-adding and location-choosing buttons in different places.
When your post is ready to share, tap the paper-airplane button in the upper-right corner on an Android phone, or the Post button on an iPhone.
TIP
If you get cold feet and decide not to post anything after all: On an Android phone, either tap the Back button or press the Menu button and then choose Discard. On an iPhone, tap Cancel in the upper-left corner.
You can do all the same things via the browser version that you can with the dedicated Android or iPhone app, except for shoot or attach a picture.
NOTE
In all mobile versions of Google+ apps, links don’t get attached to posts the same way they are when you add them to posts in the full browser