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Editors Note:  As of January 24, 2017, the old Google+ site has been deprecated and is no longer available.

Yesterday we saw all the hype around the new Google+ website and upcoming Android apps.  For some, this change has been welcomed while others have found it not so great.  The verdict is still out but as a die hard Google+ user, I like what I see so far.  That said, I’m a realist and this new version of the social site is very much a work in progress (Google’s words, not mine).  There are things that don’t quite work the way that you would expect and some of the overall user experiences need to be smoothed out.

For now, you have a way to get back to the Google+ of old with a simple click within the site.  I’ll show you how to do this if you haven’t found it already and give you some thoughts on why you may want to go back – and why you may want to stick with it.

It seems like I posted on this ages ago but the new user experience for the Google Play Store for Android appears to be rolling out to the masses at this point.  Over the course of the past 24 hours or so, multiple people have posted screenshots of their devices sporting the new look store on Google+, Facebook and even a few dropped them in email.  If you are still waiting for the update to come to your devices, your wait may not be much longer.  As for me, I received the updates about 5PM MST today on both my Nexus 6 and Nexus 7 at the same time (seems once one updates they all update on your account).

To be clear, there is nothing you can do to push this update to your devices.  Yes there was an update to the Google Play Store app a couple of weeks ago but this UI change is server side.  You have to wait until you get it.

The Google Play Music app has been updated today for Android devices and while it is mostly a bug fix release, there are a few new features that are worth a mention.  This new build is verion 6.1.2115T for those keeping score at home and it is rolling out to the Google Play Store now.  If you have the app installed then you should expect to see the OTA update for it anytime over the next couple of days.

As far as new features in this update, the first thing you will notice is a completely revamped Settings menu.  Things are generally much more organized into sections with this update and it is a bit easier to see all of your settings without having to tap to change a particular setting in most cases.  Functionally there isn’t much different other than the new Auto-offline feature which I will discuss after the break but I find the new Settings to be a bit easier to figure out what to adjust in Google Play Music.

Google Play Music – Free – Download Now

Today Google has announced a new feature in Google Search that could well be one of the biggest advancements in web searching since, well, forever.  I appreciate this sounds hyperbolic but think about what they announced in a larger context.  The announcement today essentially is made up of two parts.  First, you will be able to slipstream content from apps directly from within Google Search on your Android devices without actually having to leave the search itself.  Second, if you don’t have the app installed, you can stream content that is found only in the app to the search results to allow you to complete a task or see that app-only content.

Think about it:  You can get content from say a services app without actually having to have that app installed when you search for that content on your phone.

Mind. Blown.