Google is shutting down the Google+ Local places and discovery app for iOS devices and will be replacing its features over to its Maps app.
Before the shutdown, Google+ Local was an iOS based app that offered several discovery services such as place recommendations based on the user’s friends and location. However, as per August 7th, the service will be closed as a stand-alone product, although its features will be incorporated into Google’s Maps app for iOS.
The app itself already appears to have been pulled from Apple’s App Store. People who search for the app will receive a message saying it is currently not available in the store.
Google+ Local joins a range of other products and services recently closed by Google. The company officially announced that it was also pulling the plug on its Shopper app for Android- and iOS-based devices in an effort to focus instead on its search service and Google Shopping site. Shopper was an app that let people find information on products by scanning them or through voice and text search.
Google did not provide additional information about why Google+ Local was pulled off. However, it is clear that in recent months the company has focused on enhancing both its Maps product and Google+ social network, while at the same time streamlining other services through product closures.
On Android and iOS, Maps received a range of new features earlier this month including improved search, navigation and interface design. The company concurrently announced that Google Latitude and check-ins would be killed off as part of the update and incorporated over to the Google+ social network.
Even bigger changes to Maps were unveiled at the company’s I/O developers conference in May. Those enhancements included the ability for users to add personalized landmarks as long as they are logged into the service. On the other hand, Google faces mounting pressure to demonstrate value to users with its Google+ social network as it competes against Facebook and Twitter. A range of features for that product were also rolled out in May, such as a redesigned social stream, automatic hashtagging and photo-sharing enhancements.
Google+ Local launched in 2011. There was an Android version too, but it linked only to the old version of Google’s Maps app. When Maps for Android was updated earlier this month, Google+ Local’s functionality was integrated into that product.