Some updates get everyone excited. Others appeal to a select few. Google 5.7 is more of the latter. There are a few tweaks here, and while they're not going to drastically alter your Google+ing all that much, they're still worth a peek. So here's a look.
What's New
You know the floating action button that hovers in the bottom right corner? Usually it's red, and there's a white pencil inside. Tapping it allows you to quickly make a post.
Now when you're browsing a community, that button turns gray.
Left: Gray FAB in communities, Right: Spinning loading indicator for profiles
Another change makes Google+ come off as a tad less flaky. Now when you tap on a profile and it takes a few moments to appear, a spinner will drop down to let you know that the app is loading. In previous versions, Google+ would just zoom in on the profile picture and momentarily appear to freeze up. This is what we in the business call a welcome change.
The minor tweaks don't stop there. Over on the Settings page, you will see that Auto Backup has disappeared.
With Photos finally having separated from Google+, we're happy to say goodbye.
Download
The APK is signed by Google and upgrades your existing app. The cryptographic signature guarantees that the file is safe to install and was not tampered with in any way. Rather than wait for Google to push this download to your devices, which can take days, download and install it just like any other APK.
File Name: com.google.android.apps.plus-5.7.0.95459900-414016819-minAPI19.apk
Version: 5.7.0.95459900 (414016819)
MD5: e9e872e51098717291fbdc61736e563c
Thanks: Ryan Tombs