Google adds page admin support to Google+ apps (but it kind of sucks)

Google updated its Google+ app on iPhone and Android last night, adding the ability to manage pages. Unfortunately, in a major oversight, the only way to actually manage pages is to laboriously sign out of the app and sign back in.

Google product manager Anish Acharya  announced the update on — where else — Google+, but the laborious method of actually managing pages is not going over well with at least some of the commenters:

This is likely going to cause some support issues for Google: I updated Google+ on my iPhone, and wasted a few minutes searching for the page management functionality that Google promised in the release notes before checking online if others were having similar issues.

One app store review of the new app says that:

“This new version prompted me to choose a page I manage when I launched it, and now I cannot find ANY way to switch back to my regular profile … do I need to uninstall/reinstall? There are no settings under the settings section.”

But the bigger problem for Google might be the comparison to Facebook’s very slick iOS and Android apps, which show Facebook pages in-line with your Favorites, Apps, Groups, and Friends … meaning that you can update any of your pages right from the same Facebook app that you use to update your personal status, with no annoyance like signing out and signing back in.

Above: Google+ forces you to sign in as you, or a page. Facebook allows you to manage your pages with a single login.

Image Credit: John Koetsier

This probably reveals something about the architecture of the Google+ network, that the users, pages, and permissions models are not fully integrated. That would explain this laborious process, and possibly also explain why social media management tools such as HootSuite and SproutSocial still do not offer the ability to update the Google+ stream, even though HootSuite can manage Google+ pages.

On the good side, the Google+ app is stunningly gorgeous, as is the recently-released Google+ iPad app. It’s visual and rich. In addition, Google has added iPhone5 and iOS6 support on iPhone, as well as the ability to edit posts, and a new ‘Find People’ experience on Android.

Above: The new Google+ app

Image Credit: John Koetsier