Google Maps no longer lets you tap to hide the search bar and other UI

Abner Li | Aug 14 2023 - 12:32 pm PT

A curious change to Google Maps on Android and iOS means you can no longer tap to hide the search and bottom bar, as well as other UI elements, to focus entirely on the map.

Rather, that action is now accomplished by swiping up on the search bar, which Google explains with a prompt: “To see the full map, swipe up on the search bar.”

It’s not as intuitive as tapping anywhere on the map to hide. That gesture made sense as you were physically interacting with the layer that you wanted to focus on.

The argument for the new gesture is that you’re acting upon what you want to get rid of. That said, you still tap to bring back the UI.

Meanwhile, there are times where you effectively need to swipe up twice to hide it. If Explore’s “Latest in [area]” sheet is peaking up from the bottom bar, a swipe will first remove that UI, with another one required for all other UI. However, when location listings are up, you only have to swipe up once.

Related to this change is how tapping anywhere drops a pin immediately now, which might be an intended result and aim.

The tap to hide gesture was ingrained for years in Google Maps and an obvious one. The same cannot be said of the new action, especially given how uncommon a swipe up is (compared to down when removing sheets).

Reports of the tap gesture being removed first emerged in the Google Maps Help forum in February. It might have been in limited testing then and seen a wider launch afterwards. As of today, it’s rolled out on all Android and iOS devices we checked.