Peggy Ks Tips & Tricks

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine’s/Galentine’s/Palentine’s day! This week we lost some old features in Hangouts and Contacts, got more clarifications about the Google+ shutdown, and some new features for Gmail and Google Assistant.
Mr. Jingles Valentine posted February 14, 2014 on Google+ (link to post). The old Google Contacts interface was retired. This was announced for G Suite accounts last November, but there wasn’t any obvious announcement for consumer accounts. For us Plussers it makes a difference because the new Google Contacts interface doesn’t let you view your Google+ Circles. It’s still not clear how best to save that information. Conversation notification settings in the classic Hangouts Android app are being simplified. On Android O or higher devices, customized ring tones and chat messaging tones per conversation or contact will be removed and default to the general app notification tone settings. Small update on YouTube for Creators: based on user feedback, they …

Mid-February feels like the heart of winter. It’s been wet and cold even here in sunny California. And online, the sunset of consumer Google+ is finally in full swing. It’s not all gloom though, read on for updates to YouTube, Android and more.
The shutdown of consumer Google+ took its first big steps this week:The ability to create a new Google+ Profile or Google+ Page was disabledGoogle+ Comments, badges and buttons were removed from Blogger blogsAlso at some point in February, YouTube will remove its few remaining Google+ features.The Google desktop navigation bar notification bell widget will disappear on March 7th. This is currently only used for Google+, Google Photos and Hangouts Chat (for G Suite) notifications. The alternative is to use browser notifications instead.Rarely used Google Groups settings will be removed in May 2019 and other settings will be updated. If you are using Google Groups, be sure to check the details about what’s changing.Facebook announced new features…

The notification bell on the desktop Google navigation bar will disappear on March 7th. You can switch to browser notifications for Google Photos, Hangouts Chat, and Google+ for G Suite.  You will see a message with a Learn More link when you click the notification bell starting today.



The notification bell on the Google navigation bar first appeared in 2011, allowing you to access your Google+ notifications anywhere you are signed in to Google. As Google+ was integrated with other Google products, you could get your notifications for Google+ comments on Blogger and YouTube and for activity on your Photos. Peak Google+ integration was in 2013.

In 2015, as Google+ split away from other Google products, the notification bell was updated so that Google+, Google Photos and YouTube notifications could be managed separately.

And in 2017, shortly after the shutdown of Classic Google+, the notifications under the bell got a redesign, and Mr. Jingles - the Google+ notifications mascot - was r…

We now have a timeline for the shutdown of consumer Google+ and it’s happening fast. Be sure to see all the links under the Google+ heading below for the latest information, tips and tutorials. And, of course, that’s not all. Read on!
This week Google finally provided a timeline for the shutdown of consumer Google+ there will be changes as early as next week. Full shutdown will be on April 2nd, with the deletion of all consumer Google+ Profiles, all Google+ Pages, and their posts and Google+ photos. Photos in Google Photos will NOT be deleted and other Google products like Gmail and YouTube will not be affected. Blogger announced they will be switching blogs with Google+ comments to Blogger comments (which removes the Google+ comments), and removing Google+ widgets and buttons from blog Layouts on Monday, February 4th. In March, all accounts using a Google+ Profile will be switched to a Blogger profile. YouTube removed the option to automatically share videos, likes and playlist adds…

With the shutdown of Google+ on the near horizon, YouTube has announced the last few Google+-related features will be removed in February 2019.  While YouTube's breakup from Google+ was mostly complete by 2016, there were a few remaining Google+-dependent features.
Google+ Circles will be removed from private video sharesThe option to update your channel icon and cover art in the YouTube Mobile app will be removedLinks to Google+ profiles and pages on your channel's About tab and header will be removedPre-September 2016 versions of the YouTube mobile app will no longer be able to read or post commentsWhat will NOT change:


Your YouTube channel, your videos, comments and playlists will NOT be deletedYour YouTube channel's Brand Account will NOT be deletedYour verification badge from Google+ will NOT be removedSee the FAQ in the official YouTube Help Forum for details.
Related posts about the Google+ Shutdown:
Create a backup of your Google+ PageTurn your Google+ followers into…

Today Google announced a timeline for the shutdown of consumer Google+ and the removal of Google+ features from Blogger. While Google+ itself won't be entirely shut down for consumer users until April 2nd, Google+ features on Blogger will be removed beginning February 4th, less than a week from now. This includes Google+ Comments, badges and widgets and Google+ Profiles.

Note that these changes only affect Google+ features. If you are using a Blogger profile and Blogger comments, and you don't have any Google+ badges and widgets in your blog's layout, you probably won't notice any difference.


Watch the video for an overview, or read on for more details.

Update 5 February 2019: All Google+ settings have been removed, and you should see a notification inside your Blogger account:

Related posts about the Google+ Shutdown:
Create a backup of your Google+ PageTurn your Google+ followers into YouTube subscribersRemoving the last Google+ features from YouTubeBlogger minus Goo…

If you are using a Brand Account identity for your YouTube Channel or Google+ Page, you can - and should - use Google Takeout to download an archive of your content.  Google+ Page content needs to be downloaded before consumer Google+ shuts down on April 2, 2019.

A Brand Account lets you have a brand, business, organization identity on Google that is different than your personal Google Account identity. Brand Accounts can have multiple Owners and Managers, who sign in to their own Google Account to manage the Brand Account and any Google services on that Brand Account. Currently the only Google products that officially support a Brand Account identity are YouTube, Google+ and Google Photos.

Google Takeout lets you create an archive of your content stored by Google. If your data is important to you, it's a good idea to create an archive periodically:
Consumer Google+ will shut down by April 2, 2019 and all Google+ Page content will be deleted (NOTE: your Brand Account and associated…