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Nothing quite underscores Google's desperation like the "you can't view Google+ content if you're a logged-out Google user"-trick they pull. What the hell is th

Nothing quite underscores Google's desperation like the "you can't view Google+ content if you're a logged-out Google user"-trick they pull. What the hell is the deal with that? Are the little check marks they can put in the Active Users column really worth the bad experience they are giving those same users who just wanted to read the post? Sure, it's a little niggle, nothing worth complaining about. The grating thing is that they went out of their way to create a roadblock, even casting aside the pretension that logged-out means something.

tytso 14y ago
If someone posts a URL to a G+ post, you can most certainly view it without being logged-in. (Try it: go to your G+ stream, and then for a post, select "Link to this post" on the drop-down menu, then past that into a Incognito window --- you'll be able to view the post.) You can also view a user's G+ profile, and view all of their public posts, without being logged in. Yes, you won't be able to create a stream and follow a set of users without creating a G+ account --- but without a G+ account, there's no place to actually store the set of users / G+ pages / G+ communities that you're interested in....
- nwh 14y ago
  It's strange that I hear that from a lot of G+ users. I personally find that when I try to visit even links from HN pointing toward G+ posts, I am forced (well, prompted) to log in. For that reason alone I've never actually seen a post on google plus.
  - spot 14y ago
    prompted and forced are two different things.
    - nwh 14y ago
      It still refused to show me any content until I logged in. I was trying to imply that I refused to.
  - TomasSedovic 14y ago
    If I recall correctly, they have some sort of cookie-related bug (feature?) in G+ and Google Groups. If you clear your cookies or open the link in incognito mode, you should be able to see it without having to log in.

tytso 14y ago

If someone posts a URL to a G+ post, you can most certainly view it without being logged-in. (Try it: go to your G+ stream, and then for a post, select "Link to this post" on the drop-down menu, then past that into a Incognito window --- you'll be able to view the post.) You can also view a user's G+ profile, and view all of their public posts, without being logged in. Yes, you won't be able to create a stream and follow a set of users without creating a G+ account --- but without a G+ account, there's no place to actually store the set of users / G+ pages / G+ communities that you're interested in....

nwh 14y ago
It's strange that I hear that from a lot of G+ users. I personally find that when I try to visit even links from HN pointing toward G+ posts, I am forced (well, prompted) to log in. For that reason alone I've never actually seen a post on google plus.
- spot 14y ago
  prompted and forced are two different things.
  - nwh 14y ago
    It still refused to show me any content until I logged in. I was trying to imply that I refused to.
- TomasSedovic 14y ago
  If I recall correctly, they have some sort of cookie-related bug (feature?) in G+ and Google Groups. If you clear your cookies or open the link in incognito mode, you should be able to see it without having to log in.