The ay Store is stripping away most tie-ins to +

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Published 12 Aug 2016

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The conscious uncoupling between + the ay Store is accelerating. 

A couple of changes to the ay app highlight this trend. The +1 button has disappeared on app profiles. It used to live next to the sharing icon, but it’s no longer there.

play store sharing

There’s no more +1 button inside the ay Store app.

so, another report says that you may no longer need a + profile to leave a review. The review would be tied to your account, which you have to have anyway in order to access the ay Store.

The story behind the story: Once + head Vic Gundotra left the company, the deconstruction of + began. On Android that’s manifested itself with the removal of + from beta app testing ay Games. + has a very niche audience, consistently mostly of tech enthusiasts, Android fans, employees themselves. It may still have a role to play, but the days of trying to force everyone to join in are thankfully over.