Google has just announced that it is completely redesigning the Google+ interface with primarily focus on customization, improved photo and video experiences, and a new hangouts interface — among many other changes. The new interface design has rolled out with some users – including my (shared below) – but on a whole it will out for all in the next few days.
Major changes include:
- Navigation has been completely redesigned. Instead of the five button navigation at the top of the screen, Google has introduced a new “navigation ribbon.” The ribbon lets you re-order “apps”, you can also hide apps that you don’t commonly use under a new “more” button.
- The stream of posts from the people in your circles has been tweaked — more screen real estate is devoted to photos and video, there appears to be a permanent “trending on Google+” list on the right, and there’s a new view of exactly who +1 and reshares your posts. Google says these changes should “make sharing more evocative.”
- There’s a new view for hangouts — for starters, there’s now a dedicated hangout page which you can pin in the new navigation ribbon. This page shows all hangouts going on that you can join or watch, with a rotating list of popular hangouts and “pro tips,” all designed to help Google’s video chatting service get more traction with users. There’s also a live updating list of invitations from the people in your circles, again likely to get users to try the service more frequently.
- Google’s also added a page called “Explore,” which highlights trending and “interesting” posts from around the network.
- Your profile has been redesigned, with bigger photos and a new chat list that’s oriented to the right side of the browser.