The Google+ Bar – that black navigation bar containing links to Google's properties – is going away soon. Google is trading in the black nav bar and Google+ sharing tools introduced five months agoin favor of a less cluttered looking "Google Bar."
If you finally just started getting used to the Google+ Bar – that black bar of Google links you see while traversing Google properties – it’s going away soon. In an effort to reclaim more screen real estate, Google is trading in the black navigation bar and Google+ sharing tools it introduced five months ago in favor of a less cluttered looking “Google Bar.”
Google called this “the next stage” of their redesign in the announcement, which make it sound as if this was the master plan all along. It seems funny seeing as it took so long to get all the other properties fully on board with the black navigation bar.
In an effort to make sharing “super simple for people,” the Google bar will contain the same three areas.
On the left, the familiar Google logo will now include a drop-menu of choices with links to other properties like Google+, Images, Maps, YouTube, Gmail. In similar fashion to the previous “even more” link, Google will provide a “more” item at the bottom of the menu that will open up for links to other, less commonly used Google properties.
In the center, Google will place a search box with the now-familiar graphical buttons for voice search and the new blue search button. The search will allow users to search.
The right side will feature the Google+ and account information with the red Google+ notification box and links to share and account management drop-down.
Navigating with the menu will take either more clicks, or more time hovering and waiting for the pop-up menu.
Do you like this new UI change? Tell us your initial thoughts in the comments below the announcement video.