14 DAY TRIAL // Google+ has been launched, in a very limited private test, with a solid set of core products, Circles, Hangouts and so on. But equally important is the mobile aspect of the social project. Mobile is no longer an after-thought, it is equally important as the regular web, which is why Google+ is launching with both an Android and an iPhone app.
What's more, Google+ comes with a couple of mobile-only products, like the group messaging service, Huddle and Instant Upload, cloud sync for photos.
"These days a phone is the perfect sharing accessory: it's always with you, it's always online, and it's how we stay close with our closest friends," Google explained.
"We didn’t want 'just' a mobile experience, however, so with Google+ we focused on things (like GPS, cameras, and messaging) to make your pocket computer even more personal," it added.
From the get go, anything you share or upload from the mobile app is geo-tagged. This is optional of course, you can turn it off, but Google wanted the location feature to be built into everything you can do with Google+ on your phone or tablet.
Instant upload - cloud sync for photos
One killer feature of the Google+ mobile app is Instant Upload, which enables you to automatically upload any photo you take to the cloud.
The uploaded photos are stored in a dedicated and private folder and are ready to be shared, from your phone, desktop or wherever you log into Google+.
Huddle - group messaging app built on Google+ Circles
Google+ for mobile also introduces Huddle, a new group messaging app from Google, not to be confused with Disco, the other group messaging app from Google.
With all of Google's reliance on the web, text messages are still one of the best ways of getting in touch with someone on the go. Huddle makes it easy to communicate with a group of friends, a Google+ Circle, via SMS and have all of the messages sent to everyone and viewable in a way that makes sense.
The Google+ app is already available in the Android Market, not that it will do you a lot of good unless you have a Google+ invitation. It should be available for iOS devices as well, as soon as it's approved by Apple. In the meantime, there is a web-based version of the mobile app, though it's not quite on par with the native one.