14 DAY TRIAL // The company run by Steve Jobs is taking its time in approving a Google-developed application confirmed as being headed for the App Store some two weeks ago.
Google+ promises to become the first true rival to Facebook.
Its flagship feature, Circles, is described as "the easiest way to share some things with college buddies, others with your parents, and almost nothing with your boss.”
It basically lets you have the same kind of relationships that you have in the real life, online.
Hangouts, another key aspect of Google+, allows you to tell friends you're free for a video hangout, watch YouTube together and more.
A Sparks function is all about sharing content with the people in your Circles.
With that out of the way, the service is currently running in beta. Its full set of features is available to a select few as an invite-only service.
Google+ is already available for Android devices.
There’s nothing surprising about that since Android is the brainchild of Google, which means the Mountain View search giant gets to call the shots around it.
That’s not the case with the iTunes App Store, a digital storefront that has become notorious for opening its doors only to the applications that don’t rub the Apple review team the wrong way.
Apparently, the people pulling the strings in Cupertino are not so sure Google+ deserves its spot in the online venue targeting iOS-enabled customers, or so says a report by the IB Times.
The publication appropriately points out that Apple is somewhat zealous in its review and approval policies.
However, the paper only seems to collect second-hand reports from unnamed Google employees that reportedly "suspect" Apple of intentionally delaying its approval. That’s it!
No specifics are given (such as potential reasons why Apple would hold something against a Google+ iPhone app), but it is believed it has something to do with Android copying iOS to some degree as a result of Eric Schmidt (Google's CEO) working on Android while still on Apple’s board of directors.
Google+ marketing material
Credits: Google
Perhaps worth mentioning is that Google’s new service (or at least the interface of Google+) was designed by Andy Hertzfeld, a former Apple staffer who left his mark on the original interface of the early Macintosh days.
Apple has reportedly declined to comment after being queried on the matter of approving Google’s new iOS application.
We’d like to comfort those eagerly waiting for Google+ to hit iOS by reminding them that Apple took a great deal of time to approve Opera’s web browser (20 days, 8 hours, and 31 minutes, to be precise) and eventually let it loose in the App Store without any problems whatsoever.
Opera Mini for iPhone was officially approved by Apple on April 12 at 20:56:00 UTC
Credits: Opera Software It’s not always about Apple sensing something’s rotten in Denmark. Let’s not jump the gun here.
After all, they have to handle over 400,000 iPhone and iPad titles that get constant updates, while more apps are added every day.
Prioritizing is necessary in these conditions, whether it’s Google or some indie developer that wants to make a buck in the mobile ecosystem.