This article was published on May 5, 2014

Leaked Google Stars video and screenshots show built-in search, filter, folder, security, and sharing features


Leaked Google Stars video and screenshots show built-in search, filter, folder, security, and sharing features

As we wrote last month, Google is building a favoriting service called Google Stars that will let users save, share, and organize Web content. The company is testing a wide array of features for Stars, as depicted in a video and screenshots leaked out today (previous leaks only included marketing images and mockups).

As with the original news, the new details are being revealed courtesy of Google+ user Florian Kiersch. First and foremost, check out the video he filmed showing what testers of the service have access to.

As you can see, the main screen shows you all the items you have favorited, as well as an option to break those down by folders and filters (more on that later). There’s also an option to export bookmarks, though it’s not clear what format they would be saved as.

We already knew that folders would be a key part of Google Stars, that they could be set to either public (for sharing) or private visibility, and that items could be moved between them. Now we know that each folder will require a name and a description, will also have an option to be placed in a parent folder, and can be edited as well as deleted.

The splash screen right at the beginning shows what Google hopes to emphasize about Stars:

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These text strings were in the original leak. In short, they show search will be front and center with auto-complete and suggestions, bookmarks will be shown as images with the option to add notes, and that drag and drop support will be included. Furthermore, filters will automatically organize content, spam detection will be built-in, and sharing will be possible with links to public folders.

The rest of the screenshots remind us is that Google Stars will be a cloud service. We already know it will be coming to Chrome (likely via an app or extension), but Google is also clearly building a solid base so it can expand it to its other properties. An Android app would be a must, and an iOS version wouldn’t be a surprise.

Top Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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