Google has sunsetted the Google+ brand and rebranded it as Currents. Google Currents is a web and mobile-based tool targeted at enterprise customers and has a similar user interface.
Google has retired its failed social networking platform Google+ with a new enterprise communications platform called Google Currents. Google announced it would replace Google+ with Currents in 2019Opens a new window . Currents moved past the beta is now generally available.
If there’s one vertical where the many tentacled Google has not made much headway is enterprise social networks. Like Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, which has a thriving community, Google lacks a platform for its enterprise customers. Google is positioning Google Currents as a challenger to Slack for enterprise users.
The process of shutting down Google+Opens a new window had begun in 2019. The company initiated the shutdown under Project StrobeOpens a new window owing to low user activity as well as concerns of vulnerabilities that potentially exposed millions of user accounts to outsiders. Now, the platform is closed off to enterprise users as well.
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Currently, Google+ app users will find that the Android and iOS is rebranded as Currents and sports a new icon though its user interface remains more or less the same. Users can access Google Currents either with the rebranded mobile apps or through the web at currents.google.com as well as plus.google.com.
A lot of features in Currents are derivative of Google+. Here’s what Google CurrentsOpens a new window offers:
- Users can post content like text, images, files and hyperlinks while others can comment and share
- The content is ordered either chronologically or by relevance with the option to choose either
- Discover content based on Tags and Streams
- Admins have content moderation privileges
- Track posts for engagement metrics
Interestingly, Google Currents is the second platform with the CurrentsOpens a new window name. Google’s news service, which operated under Currents was rebranded as Google Play Newsstand. However, the news aggregator app was also discontinued in 2018 in view of the popularity of Google News.
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