Google+ For Android Update Removes Messenger, Adds Drive Integration

Are you one of the millions of people who use Google+ everyday on your Android device. If so, Google has a treat for you in the form of new updates.

Google’s Virgil Dobjanschi took to the website this morning to announce five upcoming updates for Google+ on Android. The updates range from usability improvements to the Google killing off certain features in favor of new ones.

First, Messenger is gone, so no more confusion between the built-in messaging service and the better, independent Hangouts client.

Users can also share their location with friends and family — or anyone in a circle, really — at a precise or city-wide level, and can differentiate based on Circles. It’s not a huge change, and we doubt a lot of people use the service, but since Latitude shut down last week this is now Google’s version of Find My Friends.

Perhaps most important in this update is the ability to access Google Drive photos and videos from within Google+, and they’ll be given the Awesome treatment with no user input. This means photos uploaded to Google+ from Drive will be auto-enhanced and perhaps even animated.

Users can also switch between Google accounts more easily, something that was a bit cumbersome in the past. Lastly, Google Apps for Business features are all supported in Google+ now.

No word on when these changes are coming to iOS.