Google+ Photos gets an option to move images between albums, new Download button, and faster uploading
Google+ turns two today and Google has already redesigned its buttons and badges, but that's not all. The service is also getting some new features specifically centered on photos.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google had already made photos a central pillar of its late-2012 Google+ expansion, alongside mobile, events and Hangouts, and then recast the service around separate Stream, Hangouts and Photos sections in May 2013. The mobile-web redesign extended that broader interface overhaul to smaller screens.
Album moves, direct downloads and faster uploads make the Photos section more practical for managing an existing library, rather than merely viewing images inside a social stream. The same-day button and badge redesign underscores that Google is refining both Google+’s distribution surfaces and its photo workflow.
First-order effects
- Google+ users gain basic library-management and retrieval tools—moving images between albums and downloading them—while faster uploads reduce friction at the point photos enter the service.
Second-order effects
- Google’s Photos team must make album organization and upload performance consistent with the Google+ experience it had already extended across mobile and the Web, raising the value of the Photos section within the broader service.
Third-order effects
- If Google continues pairing interface redesigns with photo-management improvements, Google+ is moving toward a product structure in which a social layer and a personal-media library reinforce each other rather than operate as separate destinations.
The trend: Google+ is evolving from a stream-centered social product toward a more integrated suite where photo storage, organization and sharing are core engagement features.