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Location sharing in realtime is one feature my wife and I still use to keep track of each other. Even if I can't answer the phone (in a meeting, didn't hear it

Location sharing in realtime is one feature my wife and I still use to keep track of each other. Even if I can't answer the phone (in a meeting, didn't hear it go off) she can take a look and see where I am. Hangouts is great. Remember that Hangouts launched as a part of Google+ before breaking out. Ironically, Google+ Photos is also one of my favorites. If you snapped photos on a vacation, you may return to find that Google has stitched them together into a "story" -- including where you were when you took photos, who you were with, etc. It's a nice way to relive the memory. Circles is also a very simple concept for social network security. It's easy to understand, and I like that Google left it out in the open as something you should definitely do. Facebook has a similar feature, but it's not in their best interest to highlight it.

chime 11y ago
> Location sharing in realtime is one feature my wife and I still use to keep track of each other... iOS users can use the "Find My Friends" app for the same purpose. It is a huge time saver (and safety tool) for my wife and I. I don't like calling her when she's driving to ask how far she is from home. One quick look at the app and I know when it's time to get the baby ready for dinner.
- erichurkman 11y ago
  And the 'notify me when…' feature is pretty handy for departure times from work or school.
rconti 11y ago
IMO, hangouts is infuriatingly bad. It's way too keystroke-intensive to sign in and sign out of accounts in the iOS app; the Chrome app (plugin?) thing is terrible and the functionality seems to change every other week. I can't count on them not breaking notifications (such as those for when I receive a message while signed out) in new and exciting ways at random times, and... well, it's just terrible in all kinds of ways.
sorenjan 11y ago
Looks like location sharing is being moved from Google+ soon too [1], and the auto awesome features in Google+ photos are still available in Google Photos. I use Google+ mainly to share photos, they're already there backed up from my phone, so it's convenient. [1] http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/07/20/apk-teardown-google-play-services-v7-8-makes-significant-progress-on-new-location-sharing-feature-improves-smart-lock-features-and-more/ http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/07/20/apk-teardown-google-...
georgemcbay 11y ago
Like a lot of things that wound up clumsily rolled into Google+ location sharing actually existed pre-Google+ in the form of Latitude (which came out of Dodgeball originally). And as with other things smushed into Google+ at one point or another (see Voice, Reader, Picasa, etc), a lot of users of the old thing will tell you that the old thing was actually superior to what wound up in Google+. In the case of Latitude you could easily share the information in a general way to all of Google Maps which covered a lot more platforms than Google+ itself does.
wodenokoto 11y ago
I find circles very hard to understand compared to Facebook's "friendship model". If I add you as a friend and you accept, you can see my entire profile, and interact with it and I can the same with yours. Very straight forward. If I add you to a circle, what happens? Are you now part of a known group? Are you just secretly tagged for my convenience? Can you see my profile in full because I added you? Can I see yours?

chime 11y ago

> Location sharing in realtime is one feature my wife and I still use to keep track of each other... iOS users can use the "Find My Friends" app for the same purpose. It is a huge time saver (and safety tool) for my wife and I. I don't like calling her when she's driving to ask how far she is from home. One quick look at the app and I know when it's time to get the baby ready for dinner.

erichurkman 11y ago
And the 'notify me when…' feature is pretty handy for departure times from work or school.

rconti 11y ago

IMO, hangouts is infuriatingly bad. It's way too keystroke-intensive to sign in and sign out of accounts in the iOS app; the Chrome app (plugin?) thing is terrible and the functionality seems to change every other week. I can't count on them not breaking notifications (such as those for when I receive a message while signed out) in new and exciting ways at random times, and... well, it's just terrible in all kinds of ways.

sorenjan 11y ago

Looks like location sharing is being moved from Google+ soon too [1], and the auto awesome features in Google+ photos are still available in Google Photos. I use Google+ mainly to share photos, they're already there backed up from my phone, so it's convenient. [1] http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/07/20/apk-teardown-google-play-services-v7-8-makes-significant-progress-on-new-location-sharing-feature-improves-smart-lock-features-and-more/ http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/07/20/apk-teardown-google-...

georgemcbay 11y ago

Like a lot of things that wound up clumsily rolled into Google+ location sharing actually existed pre-Google+ in the form of Latitude (which came out of Dodgeball originally). And as with other things smushed into Google+ at one point or another (see Voice, Reader, Picasa, etc), a lot of users of the old thing will tell you that the old thing was actually superior to what wound up in Google+. In the case of Latitude you could easily share the information in a general way to all of Google Maps which covered a lot more platforms than Google+ itself does.

wodenokoto 11y ago

I find circles very hard to understand compared to Facebook's "friendship model". If I add you as a friend and you accept, you can see my entire profile, and interact with it and I can the same with yours. Very straight forward. If I add you to a circle, what happens? Are you now part of a known group? Are you just secretly tagged for my convenience? Can you see my profile in full because I added you? Can I see yours?