As Google+ continues to add features and there is also continued development of all other Google Apps, I have found that these products are beginning to dominate my iPhone. Two features in particular that have grabbed my attention are:
- Google+ photos: the photo editing features similar to those of the great app Snapseed are now integrated in Google+, so when you either take a photo in Google+ or publish it to the web through Google+, there is no need to open the standalone Snapseed app to enhance photos;
- Google Hangouts: the chat feature in Gmail is now available on iOS so you can carry on these chats on mobile devices.
As I looked at the home screen of my iPhone last night,
it was apparent that Google is beginning to take over: two of the four apps in my bottom tray are Google apps: the Google Search app which I use for …web searching and accessing Google Now cards; and Google+ which I use here as my camera app as it has Snapseed built in.
Google Maps is a no brainer, and I have particularly enjoyed the turn-by-turn voice directions when driving around my soon-to-be-home-but-still-unfamiliar St. Louis.
Looking forward, it is apparent that I am going to add more Google Apps to my home screen: I signed up for Google Play Music this morning – when the iOS app for this comes, it will replace the Groove music player. I am also waiting for a Google Tasks app (the to-do list built into Gmail). Currently, I use GoTasks to access my Gmail Task lists.
(I am keeping the beautiful new Yahoo weather app for the moment).
As the realization that Google is taking over my iPhone occurred to me, another (mildly horrifying) thought entered my mind: if I am spending so much time using Google products, why am I not using their hardware? That is, why don’t I ditch my iPhone 5 and get a Google Nexus?
Beyond the Paperless Classroom 