The Android app for Google's favorite social network (guess) has received an update that will make the experience more pleasant for a solid number of you bothered by a specific design choice. Need a moment to figure out which one? Here's a hint—it's the black tab bar at the bottom of the app.

In 7.0, the bottom tab bar should disappear once you start scrolling. It doesn't work yet on the notifications screen, and quite a few people say the feature isn't kicking in for them yet at all. Your instructions are to be patient as the functionality makes its way out to users of the next few days.

Other changes include the way the home screen now remembers your position when you return from a different screen and how searches now display autocompleted suggestions as you type. You will also receive a prompt to add a Collection or Community to your profile if you don't have one yet.

But really, it's all about that tab bar.

What's New:

  • 69 bugs fixed
  • 14 accessibility issues addressed
  • Automatically hide the bottom tab bar when scrolling (note: not on Notifications screen yet)
  • The home stream now remembers your position when you return to it (after going to a different screen like Notifications)
  • Search now displays autocomplete suggestions as you type
  • If you have no Collections or Communities visible on your profile, we include a prompt for you to add one

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_7.0.0.111900548-415009905_minAPI19(armeabi-v7a)(nodpi).apk

Version: 7.0.0.111900548 (415009905)

MD5: 9f561704f63dd04b3bc6f6728d840578

Source: Google+