Google+ cuts its ties with YouTube, but don’t delete your account yet

By Williams Pelegrin July 27, 2015

youtube removes google plus account requirement — qoppi/Shutterstock

After almost two years of requiring YouTube users to have a Google+ account if they wanted to upload videos or comment on others, Google announced in a blog post that it will drop such requirements.

According to Google’s vice president of streams, photos, and sharing Bradley Horowitz, Google wants to decouple your Google+ account from all of the company’s products, starting with YouTube. The changes, said Horowitz, were done in response to user feedback, though he made the point that Google+ will not go away. Instead, Google will offer “a more focused, more useful, more engaging Google+” with these changes. Based on his statements, it sounds like Google+ will eventually be its own platform rather than have its hands in everything Google offers.

Related Videos

For YouTube users, this means that they will be able to comment, upload videos, and create a channel without the need for a Google+ account. However, Google offers a very strong and stern warning: If you delete your Google+ account, your YouTube account will also go away. If you want to remove your Google+ account and you currently have a YouTube account, you’ll be able to do so “in the coming months.”

In addition, when someone shares a YouTube video to Google+, YouTube will not post a notification in the comments section about the share.

However, there are a few things Google will keep, such as Google+’s moderation options on channels. These options include reviewing comments and blocking particular words, which is especially useful if you’re trying to run a family-friendly channel. You can also have certain comments auto-approved. The only real difference, according to Google, is these options will exist without Google+.

As for Google+ itself, Horowitz said it will continue to provide an “interest-based social experience” for those who decided to sink their teeth into it and liked what they tasted.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Computing

Google’s new Bard AI may be powerful enough to make ChatGPT worry — and it’s already here

OpenAI's ChatGPT has taken the world by storm, but it will soon have a formidable rival. Google has just announced that its new "experimental conversational AI service" called Bard has now entered the testing phase.

For Google, perfecting this AI model seems to be an absolute priority, and it's running out of time to do so. Luckily for Bard, it will have a certain edge over this version of ChatGPT.

Computing

Microsoft Word vs. Google Docs

A person using a laptop that displays various Microsoft Office apps.

For the last few decades, Microsoft Word has been the de facto standard for word processors across the working world. That's finally starting to shift, and it looks like one of Google's productivity apps is the heir apparent. The company's Google Docs solution (or to be specific, the integrated word processor) is cross-platform and interoperable, automatically syncs, is easily shareable, and perhaps best of all, is free.

However, Google Docs still has a long way to go before it can match all of Word's features -- Microsoft has been developing its word processor for over 30 years, after all. Will Google Docs' low barrier to entry and cross-platform functionality win out? Let's break down each word processor in terms of features and capabilities to help you determine which is best for your needs.
How does each word processing program compare?
To put it lightly, Microsoft Word has an incredible advantage over Google Docs in terms of raw technical capability. From relatively humble beginnings in the 1980s, Microsoft has added new tools and options in each successive version. Most of the essential editing tools are available in Google Docs, but users who are used to Word will find it limited.

Mobile

You shouldn’t need an accountant to buy a new fitness tracker

Fitbit Charge 3.

It was once a case of just buying a fitness tracker, strapping it on your wrist, and going about your business. You paid one price, and that was that. Unfortunately, this familiar, clear, and simple buying process is disappearing, and being replaced by one that’s far more complicated. No longer is it enough to pay once for your new piece of tech; the new way is to pay again and again to track your health.

Never has it been so important to fully understand what your desired piece of wearable technology actually costs, because the price on the shelf isn’t necessarily the end of your spend anymore.
Understanding the subscriptions
Oura Ring Horizon Andy Boxall/Digital Trends