Apple released the iPhone app for Google's red hot social network, Google Plus, on the iTunes store this morning. (link) Enthusiastic Plus users appear very excited to take advantage of the native app, which offers features like photo uploading, Huddle conversations and push notifications - in addition to the features already offered by the mobile web interface.
Unfortunately, the app has a lot of shortcomings. Most of those shortcomings are true of Plus's Android App as well, but the fact that Google had to wait three weeks for Apple to approve the Plus app couldn't have helped the development cycle relative to early feedback on Android.
Google's Punit Soni, who is responsible for the Plus mobile app, has said that almost all of the problems below will be solved soon. That's good news. In fact, Apple must be working with Google on the app's release because a first update appeared in the app store less than an hour after the app became available. (Apparently an old version intended for testing was what got pushed live at first.) That update freezes when you try to load it, but if you force close it once it will work the next time.
Problems unique to this app.
More general issues with the mobile Plus in general.
Those are all very frustrating features to be missing across the Plus mobile experience. Hopefully the whole thing will be improved promptly so that Plus on mobile can be as remarkably compelling as Plus on the desktop.
I'm on Google Plus here.