Google has a new social networking app, but it is no Facebook competitor
Google+, which was shut down in April, may have been the Internet search giant's most popular (albeit ill-fated) stab at creating a social network, but it wasn't the first. Technically, it was the fourth—following in the footsteps of such mishaps as Google Buzz, Google Friend Connect, and Orkut (yes, that was a thing in India and Brazil)—and Google+ aimed for the stars, but never quite managed to catch up to the hopes of its creators.
Fresh on the heels of the Google+ shutdown in April, the company is at it again with another idea for a social networking app. This time around, however, on a smaller scale.
The new endeavor is called Shoelace and comes from Google’s in-house incubator, Area 120. Shoelace is a hyperlocal app for organizing events and activities, called "Loops", which makes it similar to Facebook Events. It is currently being tested exclusively in New York, but if it proves successful, a wider roll-out could be in the cards.
As Android Police points out, Shoelace is rather similar to a previous Google attempt at an event organizer called Schemer. It launched in 2011 and was discontinued in 2014.
Unlike Facebook and Google+, Shoelace is aimed at organizing and managing local events and finding new people who may be interested in them. In this sense, it is a bit like Tinder, in that it tries to match you with people with similar interests, and help you organize events around those interests.
Shoelace is currently invite-only and is being tested in NYC. There is no web version, while the app is available on Android 8.0 and up, and iOS 11 and up.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: