Soon You Won't Need Google+ To Use Google Services
Google announced that it will be making some changes to Google+ over the course of the coming months. The changes have already begun with the recent discontinuation of Google+ Photos, which was transitioned into the new Google Photo's app.
Google stated that it remains focused on adding features to Google+, such as the recently added Google+ Collections, which can organize posts by topic. The company is also concentrating on separating aspects of Google+ that don't seem to fit within Google+ itself.
One of the more notable changes that is on the way is the separation of Google+ accounts from the rest of Google. The company has received feedback over the years that suggest people enjoy having one log-in for everything Google, but at the same time others complained about having Google+ be that single account. As a result, Google will be changing the sign-in requirements for its products to only require a Google account that doesn't have to be linked to a Google+ account.
Google accounts will not be trackable, nor will they be searchable publicly like Google+ accounts currently are.
The first service to make the switch is YouTube, and that change started today. Comments made on YouTube used to also be posted to the user's Google+ account. This will no longer happen. Comments on the two services are no longer linked to each other.
Currently, a Google+ account is still required to make comments, upload a video or create a channel, but this will be changing in the coming weeks as well. YouTubers will be able to separate their Google+ accounts from YouTube or leave them connected. YouTube has cautioned not to delete your Google+ account at this time, as the change has not been made yet.
Google will be rolling out changes in various stages for the next several months, and the company believes the changes will make Google+ better for people who use the service, and for those who don't.
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Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years.
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zodiacfml Finally. I thought it would never happen. I think it's not a matter of accepting defeat but realizing that social networking websites are dwindling. Besides, those Google services are bigger and more popular than Plus anyway.Reply -
ohim The only good thing about Google+ is that it works 10 times better than facebook apps ... sadly it is very unintuitive to use.Reply -
buxxcador I didn't accepted google+ abuses, so I closed that account, and was forced to loose all my youtube videos. That was sad.Reply
I spent years making videos to a youtube account which I never expected to be mixed with any other thing. I lost years of work.
I will never forgive Google. I hope it goes broke, die and rot. -
thundervore Its about damn time they listened to the community and got rid of the Google+ integration. They were too late to ride the social network train so they might as well do something different.Reply