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Home»BlackBerry Software»News & Rumors, BlackBerry Apps

Get Google Plus on your BlackBerry with App For Google+

by Adam Zeis on 23 Feb 2012 10:49 AM
59
 

App for Google+

Google+ has been around for a while now, but unfortunately there hasn't been an easy way to access it from your BlackBerry. Well today, Smarter Apps has released the first free beta version of an app that allows Google+ users to access their accounts right on their BlackBerry. The free app is called App For Google+ and is now live in BlackBerry App World.

Features of the Google+ app for BlackBerry include:

  • View your stream, post to your stream, checkin, upload photos to your stream
  • View your photos and photos from people in your circles
  • Add, edit, delete people and circles
  • View and edit your own Google+ profile
  • Support for all BlackBerry OS 5 and above devices except the BlackBerry PlayBook

Some features of the Google+ app for BlackBerry that are not yet supported include Instant Upload (although it seems to be working ok in our tests) and Google+ Messenger. Keep in mind as well that the app is currently in beta form. If you give it a spin be sure to let us know in the comments how it's working for you.

Also be sure to follow CrackBerry Kevin (and our official CrackBerry.com Page) so he can get more followers than Phil over at Android Central (side note - Google+ contest to follow - stay tuned).

More information/download of App for Google+
Follow CrackBerry on Google+

Filed Under: News & Rumors, BlackBerry Apps; Tags: Google +, Smarter Apps
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59 Comments

Posted by berrygoodthemes Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

is pretty nice so far! and has push notifications - no led but a pop up box!
look forward to the updates / official version soon

#first

 
 
Posted by BaconMunch Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Great timing! I had just downloaded Launcher for Google+ last night, looking forward to a simpler UI!

 
 
Posted by teamryan15 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

good stuff unfortunately i dont see enough activity on google+ for me to take the time to download it.

 
 
Posted by Silvius Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

nice application, it's a shame google didn't showed bb users the attention that we deserve.

Way to go Smarter Apps, you have +1 from me ;)

 
 
Posted by DadaThePanda Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Who uses Google+ anyway? This app is useless....

 
 
Posted by willwnet Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

I never used it because I couldn't get it on BlackBerry, now I'm using it a lot more.

 
 
Posted by AgentScribe Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

I use G+ daily. I'm a heavy Google products user.

 
 
Posted by rmjones101 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Millions of people.

 
 
Posted by mss-ca Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

What's the difference between Google+, Twitter and Facebook?

And why is it listed under Adult category? I think I want to join just because it's for adults. LOL

I am confused now.

 
 
Posted by rmjones101 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

It was probably listed under the Adult category because at one time G+ had a requirement that you be 18+ to use their service. They've since changed it to 13+.

 
 
Posted by UnknownError507 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

I rather USE G+ and Twitter instead of Facebook.

Good to see a dev put all the time into this app :D

G+1 from me to Smarter Apps.

 
 
Posted by coopere Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Over 100 million people, but apparently you're not one of them

 
 
Posted by AgentScribe Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

+1

 
 
Posted by f0xG3 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

I would probably be around if G+ for BlackBerry is made XD. Unfortunately Google is busy ignoring us :(

 
 
Posted by Joshua_X Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Very laggy on my 9800. At least it's a start.

 
 
Posted by StringThing Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

I'll try this but for your Playbook, Google+ Launcher in Appworld works very well. Trial and if you decide to buy it's only $0.99.

 
 
Posted by All.Os Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

I don't get it - why would I pay for the Launcher if I can have a bookmark on my homescreen doing the same thing?

 
 
Posted by Marc_Paradise Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Seriously? All it does is launch the desktop website, which you can do yourself from the browser. And you think it's worth $0.99 to save the trouble of adding a bookmark to your browser?

 
 
Posted by BBCurveit Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Finally someone came up with a BB app for G+.. +1 for that

I know that its not a official google version , but wish the future builds may incorporate improvements like
1. LED notification
2. G+ as a Menu item
3. Integration with Social Feeds

 
 
Posted by lachmi Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Indeed!

4. Selection of image size before uploading picture from BB
5. Possibility of turning off the app without logging out.

But this is good start! Go on ;-)

 
 
Posted by predacon Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

this is great I been waiting for ever to get an app

 
 
Posted by julianrt Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

nice to see google still working on BB apps....

 
 
Posted by Adam Zeis Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Unfortunately it's not an official Google app - it's from a third-party company Smarter Apps.

 
 
Posted by julianrt Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

saw it later :D ups

 
 
Posted by randall2580 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Big G+ fan, very happy about this.

 
 
Posted by Juggalo20 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Guessing by no led you guys mean there's no ringer profile integration... I'll pass then.

 
 
Posted by BBCurveit Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

yup right now no integration with profile

 
 
Posted by jonduran86 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Very nice app. Good to see a G+ app! One thing, it seems like it always run in the background. Other than that, its pretty cool. Can't wait to see messenger available

 
 
Posted by cdelcampo216 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Kevin,

Any idea when Google+ will be available for the PlayBook?

 
 
Posted by decypher44 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

App won't close. Deal breaker for me.

 
 
Posted by willwnet Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Hey decypher44,

The app can be closed, simply hit Menu and select "Logout" and the app will close completely.

The reason Google+ stays open is to receive notifications. When it is open in the background it is just waiting for notifications, so it will not have an impact on performance. (I leave it on my BlackBerry permanently and it has had no impact on performance when in the background).

 
 
Posted by xtremesniper Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Is it not possible to have it "closed" (as in not showing in the app switcher) but still open to post notifications (like the Facebook or Twitter apps?).

I haven't installed the app yet so if this is already how it behaves then sorry.

 
 
Posted by decypher44 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Feel the same as xtremesniper.

 
 
Posted by willwnet Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Hey guys - so the difference between "closed" and "open" is a bit of a grey area. Facebook and Twitter certainly appear closed on your BlackBerry but they are still running, just hiding their icon from the App Switcher. We could do the same, but would rather not hide this from the user.

Many apps are actually open even if they are not visible, such as: BlackBerry Protect, BlackBerry Music Store, Screen Muncher, BlackBerry App World, Facebook, Twitter (and many others).

These apps remain open because they are doing small things in the background, most likely waiting for Notifications. They only use a small bit of memory when in this state, because they aren't actively processing or displaying graphics.

With our Google+ app you can completely close it by selecting "Logout", and simply log back in. However we think that you won't find a performance decrease with Google+ logged in.

 
 
Posted by xtremesniper Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Thanks for the clarification.

 
 
Posted by SC457 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Cool to see apps being made for BB finally. I don't use G+ very much but might start now that it's on my phone.

 
 
Posted by Bilaal Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

I remember signing up for G+ a few months ago and seeing if there's an App for it. Good to see it finally come out. Unfortunately, not enough action on there for me.

Just saw a BB Bold advert in the UK during the England v Pakistan Twenty Twenty match. Good to see them adverts!

Be Bold, fellas.

 
 
Posted by saudi_king Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Did you know that Smarter Apps is a developer based out of Hong Kong (China)? No way I am purchasing this or any of their other apps.

 
 
Posted by willwnet Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Hey saudi_king, Smarter Apps is actually located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (also the home of QNX!).

Check out our website for more info: http://www.smarter-apps.com/contact-us/

EDIT: Also, Google+ is free! :-)

 
 
Posted by Marc_Paradise Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

I actually ran this with firewall on - a good practice whenever you have a third party app that gathers credentials - and can confirm that the ONLY web sites it connects to are official google sites and google's content delivery network.

Just run it in paranoid mode - it will prompt you for everything, and you can be sure that it's safe that way.

 
 
Posted by xtremesniper Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

How do you run a firewall (or paranoid mode) on your BB?

 
 
Posted by gravymonster Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Hey remember google+? Me either...

 
 
Posted by sectionsix Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

TY!

 
 
Posted by xtremesniper Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Can anyone comment on the security of an app like this? Does it transmit your login credentials over a secure SSL link directly to Google's own auth APIs? Or is it transmitted in plain text part-way or all the way?

 
 
Posted by willwnet Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

The app uses the Google ClientLogin API in order to authenticate the
user, which is done over an SSL connection, details can be found here:

http://code.google.com/apis/accounts/docs/AuthForInstalledApps.html

 
 
Posted by xtremesniper Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

That's good to know, but how did you find this out, are you the developer? That document states that it is recommended (more secure) to convert the app to use OAuth 2.0.

 
 
Posted by willwnet Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Hey xtremesniper,

Yes I work at Smarter Apps (the developer of this app) - we chose to not use OAuth 2.0 because of the poor user experience this would create on a BlackBerry smartphone.

OAuth would require popping out to the browser window to authenticate, which is more prone to bugs across the different models and OS versions of the range of BlackBerry's that we want to be able to support.

Will

 
 
Posted by xtremesniper Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Thanks for the reply, I will try the app out.

 
 
Posted by willwnet Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

Feel free to contact us for any additional questions/assistance: http://support.smarter-apps.com/home

 
 
Posted by danatnr Friday, Feb 24, 2012 90 days ago

Sorry, I addressed this comment to the wrong person. :)

 
 
Posted by danatnr Friday, Feb 24, 2012 90 days ago

Will, thanks for taking your time and commenting, and thank you for your work on this app!

My advice is: continue to NOT use OAuth and pop out to the browser, because BES users might have Google Plus, Facebook, and Twitter blocked with browser proxy rules. This killed my using UberTwitter when they started using OAuth.

A couple minor complaints:
* When I click + or @ in a post, I don't see an opportunity to link other Google Plus users.
* Also, the text entry doesn't behave like a normal BlackBerry text editor: double-click doesn't give me a period automatically, the first letter and next letter aren't automatically capitalized, etc.
* I responded to a comment on one of my posts, and it never sent the reply to plus.

GPS check-in works on my Torch, which immediately makes it better than the web version of Google Plus. It also looks better and uses space better than the browser. I already recommend this to my friends and look forward to the bug fixes. I'm a big Plus user and happy to see this app coming.

 
 
Posted by lnichols Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

No interest in giving google anything more than mail and search. And since they don't want to support Blackberry themselves I don't see any reason to use their knockoff of Facebook.

 
 
Posted by AgentScribe Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

G+ isn't a knockoff but, if it were, who carers? Better is better.

 
 
Posted by marcony Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

im not a google employee to use Google+ .. ^.^

 
 
Posted by alexrocks502 Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 91 days ago

I actually really like this app even when I don't use G+ that much is nice to see an app for G+ finally hit BBAppWorld and the customer service I've been reading on the comments its really refreshing and nice!! Good job smarter apps!!!

 
 
Posted by SC457 Friday, Feb 24, 2012 90 days ago

Already updated to .56 tonight

 
 
Posted by misskalunji Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 89 days ago

I dig too

 
 
Posted by loreburne Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 89 days ago

It seems a good app ! I take it that the photos that I can see (which I have on picasa) are still only available for me to see? The are all disable using this app and I can not see an option that shows which are public and which are private. They seem to be all private in Picasa !

 
 
Posted by jdwalters12 Thursday, Mar 15, 2012 70 days ago

Does anyone know how to get the location services feature to work?