Keeping up with Social Networks - Running Android: Using Your Phone and Tablet for Work and Play - page 49

Flipboard home screen showing several feeds. Tap the Refresh icon at the lower left to re-
fresh all feeds, and tap a feed to open it
Google Plus
It probably won't be a surprise that the Google Plus app comes pre-installed on Android.
As soon as you log in to your Google account from any Google app, Google Plus is syn-
chronized with the other devices where you also use Google Plus.
The Google Plus app for Android offers a clean and fast user interface, which makes it easy
to keep up with your friends and also join Google Plus Communities. The ease with which
you can join groups of people with shared interests is one of the things that sets Google
Plus apart from Facebook.
One of the unique features of Google Plus is Hangouts, which makes it very easy to start a
group discussion via the keyboard or video call. Another nice feature of Google Plus is that
you can view photos that you've uploaded to Google's Picasa photo sharing service.
Facebook
Facebook has a free Android app which you can install, but there are plenty of alternatives
( http://bit.ly/1biMQmP ) , including Flipboard which I mentioned at the start of this chapter.
HootSuite ( http://bit.ly/1dQytHl ) lets you manage Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and many
other social networks from the same app. HootSuite also has a flexible web page that you
can use to manage multiple social networks. The free app is limited to five social networks,
which includes Facebook groups and pages- to manage more than that, you'll have to up-
grade to HootSuite Pro for $9.95 per month. If you have more than five social networks to
manage, I suggest using Flipboard instead, which is free and has no limits.
Twitter
The Twitter app for Android ( http://bit.ly/1aCrXSC ) is free and works very well. For an
alternative, see Flipboard.
Instagram