iPad finally gets dedicated Google+ app

Look, this isn’t the most surprising news on Earth. Google did promise that the iPad would get its own Google+ app at its recent I/O event. And now it’s here.

The internet giant claims that the iPad app was “designed with the device in mind”. As opposed to, you know, a completely different device. It also says that “your stream styles content based on popularity, type and orientation” and adds that it comes with a couple of unique features.

These include the ability to:

• Pinch and expand posts in your stream to add your comments
• Use two fingers to drag a post from your stream to re-share it
• Start a Hangout from your iPad and stream it to your TV using AirPlay

The last of these is probably among the most appealing to Apple users and, come to think of it, is pretty damn appealing to anyone of an even vaguely geek bent.

When Google launched the app at I/O, senior vice president Vic Gundotra highlighted the Hangouts feature. Always one of Google+’s most high-profile features, he reckons that on tablets, it comes with “a kind of intimacy you just don’t get on other devices”.

On the app, you can start a video chat with up to nine friends and turn on ringing notifications so your friends know to join the Hangout.

The internet giant also rolled its events feature, which looks pretty damn nifty, to the iPad and iPhone apps.