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Circles will be phased out on X, formerly Twitter, at the end of October

You can no longer limit the visibility of posts to a select group of people

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Social media platforms have made changes over the years to give users more ways to manage their posts. Specifically, visibility settings have been integrated into some social networks — for example, Instagram allows its users to create Stories that can only be viewed by a select group of people. X, formerly known as Twitter, followed suit with a similar feature called Circles not much more than a year ago. Now, the Elon Musk-led social media network is eliminating the option for users looking to limit who can see their posts.

twitter
Twitter tests a way to share with small groups that's giving us serious Google+ flashbacks

For the youngins, it’s like Instagram Close Friends

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Twitter is a great destination for talking about basically whatever — catching up with the latest trends and opinions on almost any subject. But the past few weeks have seen the platform itself quickly become the center of many discussions, whether about Elon Musk’s takeover or an edit option that might finally be actually happening. Even in the face of all this unheval, developers continue to try out new feaatures, and today we're hearing about Twitter Circle, a new sharing mode that's reminding us of Instagram’s Close Friends and Google+ shared circles.

If there's one thing you can take from Google's new Pixel 5a ad, it's that the new phone has circles. Well, really, just the one circle — and, I guess, it's more of a hole. But have you ever just thought about circles? They start where they stop, and they never end. Can someone pass the Cheetos? Your eyes are so red, man.

Google+ may have fallen out of the spotlight, but we've seen one update after another in the last few months that point to what may turn out to be a really significant revision to the social network. There have been signs for new formatting capabilities, a title layout, and even bookmarking posts to revisit later. The latest update speaks to yet another new feature that may allow for a new type of customizable stream.

Someone at Google has a real fascination with round icons. Over the past few years, we've seen them become the default shape for most of Google's app icons, adorn the Pixel launcher's app drawer, pop up in the Play Store, get tested as search shortcuts in the Google app, just to name a few instances. And now at least one user has spotted round icons for the different stories to read cards in his Google Feed.

By the time this post goes up, I'm sure most of our readers will have seen Google's circlified icons in the new Pixel launcher, bound for the new Pixel phones. I've been asked a few times what I think about the new launcher and, for the most part, I don't have a strong opinion. But I do have some thoughts about the circlified icons, some guesses at the rationale, and some thoughts about the downsides of consistency for its own sake. As with any written-from-the-outside post about design, I want to note up front that we aren't privy to any research, data, or other information Google used to make its decisions, so the best we can do is respectfully speculate and ponder.

Google is always trying something new with its different apps. Our personal nightmare is YouTube — ask Cody, trying to monitor the dozens of tips we get each week about a new YouTube UI are his personal nightmare. But Google Now might be an exception. The app's stream of cards has looked the same for a while and it's rather consistent between users. Not anymore.

When was the last time that you used the Circle sharing feature on Google+? Statistically, it's probably been a while... and you certainly haven't used it in the last few days. According to enthusiast site Google Plus Daily, the ability to share Circles of followed people and pages was quietly removed from Google's social network earlier this week. If you've never used Shared Circles, they were similar to public follow lists on Twitter.

A new "People" section has popped up inside the Android Play Store app, and it doesn't require an update to hop into (we're still using 4.6.17). This corner of the market will point you towards other Android users, particularly those in your circles, and offer a look at what apps and content they're using. The area is accessible right from the app's sidebar, and it's significantly glossier than the similar "From familiar faces" section of the Play Store's home page.

Just like the web version of Google+, the Android app will now show you at least some of your friends' "+1" activity in the main social stream. The new functionality (which has more than a little in common with the way Facebook does things) should allow Google+ to be even more social - you'll be able to weigh in on more of your friends' activity, or at least the activity that doesn't include full posts. The updated app went live yesterday.

[Editorial] Welcome To Google+: Your Social Network Is Finally Ready, So What Are You Waiting On?

Google I/O isn't even finished yet, and everyone's favorite search company has already shaken things up quite a bit. One of the biggest things Google announced

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Google I/O isn't even finished yet, and everyone's favorite search company has already shaken things up quite a bit. One of the biggest things Google announced was Google Events. Google said that this new feature would allow users to coordinate events and share them with others. What Google didn't say was that with the addition of this feature, Google+ is ready. Cooked until golden brown and ready to be served. And, guys? It's time to dig in.

Google+ Update Rolling Out Now, Ditches Its Old New Interface For A New New Interface, Now With Tablet Support

The Google+ app has received another fancy new update today. Avid Google+ followers will remember that just a month ago, the mobile Google+ got a facelift.

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The Google+ app has received another fancy new update today. Avid Google+ followers will remember that just a month ago, the mobile Google+ got a facelift. Well, forget everything you knew about that app. Google's social network is getting another new facelift. And a sweet tablet interface to boot.

When it comes to Google-powered social networking, its track record hasn't been so great. Today, though, a new social service has been announced by El Goog: Google+. It's been a long-time coming, and judging by what I've seen thus far, it looks like it won't disappoint. In my opinion, it's the social network to save us from social networks by adding a very real-world feel to the mix. Google has clearly put a lot of thought into how to incorporate our virtual life with the way we do things in the real world.