About a month after Google first launched its Google+ social network, Apple has approved the Google+ iPhone app and released it in the App Store.
Features include: Circles, which let you sort friends and determine what content you share with which users; Stream, where you can see updates from your various Circles; and Huddles, group messaging for your Circles. It also allows iPhone users to post photos right from their phone.
It is compatible with the iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4 running iOS 3.1 and higher.
The new app had been awaiting approval since early July. Android users have been able to use the new social network from their mobile devices since Google+'s launch at the end of June. In a blog post introducing Google+, Google said the iOS app was "coming soon," but because Apple doesn't provide a timeline for its App Store approval process, Google couldn't initially provide a release date.
Apple has rejected products in the past that it thinks could pose a threat to iOS features; in fact Apple includes this as a guideline in the App Store's Terms of Use. The Google Voice app, for example, was initially rejected, but it eventually turned up in the App Store last November after an FCC inquiry.
It seems Google+ hasn't exactly suffered without an iOS app. Google CEO Larry Page told analysts last week that the service already has 10 million users.
In related news, German developer Abelssoft this week released GClient, a desktop client for Google+. "GClient allows you to perform all major tasks of Google+ without having to visit the Web site," the company said.
For more, see PCMag's full hands-on with Google+, the slideshow below, as well as 6 Things Google+ Can Do That Facebook Can't and Social Networking Showdown: 8 Facebook Features Google+ Doesn't Have (Yet). On privacy, see Google+ Privacy: Has Google Learned Its Lesson?