Will Apple Give Google+ a Pass?

The fate of Google's new social app reaching a global stable of mobile users is within the hands of Steve Jobs.

Apple, which has built out a substantial following of mobile users on the iOS -- the software that powers the venerable iPhone smartphones, iPad tablets, and iPod Touch media players -- is currently deciding whether to allow Google+ to join its app list.

For my iPhone using friends: the Google+ iPhone app has been submitted to the App store (no, not today, sometime prior to today) and is awaiting approval, Google's Erica Joy posted on her Google+ account.

The submission also included an iPad app, she said.

Apple and Google have been balancing a relationship as technology partners but also as rivals.

Apple uses Google maps as the primary map application on its iPhone and iPad. But Google has grown to be even more competitive in recent years.

The search giant put out its own mobile operating system, the Android, which has risen to become the primary competitor to Apple's iPhone, and recently, Apple's iPad.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt was forced to step down from the board of Apple as competitive pressures between the companies mounted.

Responding to the tension, Apple has been careful to release apps that threaten its core businesses. Apps for Google Voice, for instance, were initially rejected, but an FCC inquiry finally let the program through in November 2010.

It's unclear if any part of Google+ threatens Apple, however.

The new social network does integrate voice chat which threatens the iPhone's native cellular technology, but Skype was recently let through, meaning that basis may be more difficult to defend.

Google+ does do video-chat, which is a direct competitor to Apple's own FaceTime application.

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