Google has released a new social app, Spaces, that imbues the Pinterest concept with extra search power.
The search giant has a pretty calamitous track record with social apps. Google Wave, Google+, and even Hangouts have all failed to gain significant traction in a world of Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp.
Google can afford to be persistent, though, and it’s trying a different tack with Spaces, a new app for Android, iOS, and desktop, as well as mobile web.
Spaces can probably best be described as an even more personalised Pinterest with added Google power. It’s all about “Small group sharing,” or sharing relevant internet content with groups of friends or family, rather than splurging your every random thought to thousands of complete strangers.
Its most powerful feature, though, is that it tightly integrates Google’s key content-discovery services. Google Search, Chrome, YouTube and Google Photos are all built in. This means that you can find any content you want to share – videos, photos, web articles – from within the app, without being led away to a separate app.
So, you create a space around a certain topic, invite those contacts of yours that you think will be interested, and add content through Google’s vast suite of tools. Members of that space can then comment on your contributions and add their own.
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This being a Google app, there’s also a powerful search function that will take you to any previously mentioned terms, images, or videos.
Could this be the service that cracks social for Google?
Next, take a look at our Android N hands-on video:
Expect to see the company talking more about Spaces at Google I/O later this week.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.