With travel currently feeling more like a necessity rather than something you do for fun, you’re probably not using Google Maps as much as you did previously. However, it looks like the Google Maps app on Android is testing a UI refresh for the route option section.
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An “early preview” of Assistant Driving Mode was announced in November, and more people received it at the start of this year. The initial version is more limited than what was demonstrated almost two years ago, and Google is now surveying users about it.
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Street View launched over a decade ago, and this vast image database is currently powering the Live View AR feature. An update to Google Maps for Android improves the Street View experience by adding a split screen mode.
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The two cars that Android Automotive currently powers are both electric. Ahead of Google’s dashboard experience coming to more vehicles, the built-in Google Maps app is improving how you find EV charging stations.
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Google today announced several efforts to aid COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the US. CEO Sundar Pichai announced $150 million in ad grants, while various Google products will soon display local information.
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The Inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris was always going to be a momentous occasion, but it saw the unexpected creation of a truly delightful meme involving Senator Bernie Sanders sitting down. A fun meme generator, powered by Google Maps Street View, lets you have Bernie Sit down anywhere in the world.
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Back in November, Google announced an “early preview” of Assistant Driving Mode in the US. It has officially been “rolling out” since late last year, but most users have yet to receive it. The company today reiterated that the preview is coming.
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One of the more useful features made possible by enabling Location History on Android is the Google Maps Timeline. In addition to a monthly recap, Google Maps is sending out a “2020 Timeline update” that is obviously impacted by the last 12 months but still provides useful local stats.
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Selecting a language in Android settings applies that choice systemwide. Google Maps now lets you set a language, which can differ from the rest of your phone, for in-app menus, controls, and other settings.
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Last month, Google briefly mentioned that the Location History-powered Timeline feature in Maps was coming to Photos. The Timeline integration is now rolled out in Google Photos for iOS and Android, along with the ability to change the map layer.
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Google has upgraded its Street View app on Android to allow you to capture and submit your own Street View photos with nothing more than your phone.
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Google launched a big Maps redesign in February and just this week introduced a new Community feed. Google Maps is now getting a simple but very useful “Go” tab on Android and iOS.
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People are increasingly turning to their mobile devices to shop for goods and order food. Google is now making it easier for customers to message stores through posts, while businesses can reply through the Maps app and get more customer stats.
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Over the past few years, Google has been growing a mostly food-centric social network inside its mapping application. Google Maps is now elevating that focus even further with a community feed.
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While the prevailing thought might be that people are using mapping and navigation services less amid COVID-19 restrictions, Google has been working to make its app more useful and relevant. Google Maps today announced three new features, including live transit “crowdedness” status.
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Last May at I/O 2019, Google announced a replacement for Android Auto’s current phone screen experience. Google Assistant Driving Mode is now here as an early preview inside Google Maps.
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For users that have Location History enabled, the Timeline view in Google Maps provides a nice visualization of where they’ve been. The Timeline is soon coming to Google Photos, and will be augmented by a “Trips” view in Maps.
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As the COVID-19 pandemic has sort of forced many people into staying home, it looks as though Google is leveraging people power to help populate Google Maps’ awesome Street View feature with a new “Driving Mode.”
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Avid reviewers in Google Maps are dubbed “Local Guides” by the company, with the program featuring a points-based ranking system that provides various perks. The latest sees some Local Guides get 10% off the Pixel 5.
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The name “Hummer” has long been synonymous with gas-guzzling SUVs, but last night, GMC announced a revival of the brand with a new electric vehicle. Now, we’re learning that the Hummer EV “supertruck” is actually running an Android operating system that may one day include Google Maps support.
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Google announced Trusted Contacts at the end of 2016 as location sharing tailored for family and friends. After nearly four years, a shutdown of Trusted Contacts, in favor of parallel functionality in Google Maps, was announced today.
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The initial Live View concept that Google demoed at I/O 2018 saw the Maps application mark and overlay information over the real world. It was a more full-featured AR experience that was not limited to walking directions. Now two years old, Google is getting ready to fulfill that original vision.
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One of the most useful features of Google Maps, particularly in the age of social distancing, is the ability to know how busy a restaurant or other business is before you arrive. Soon, Google Maps will be able to show how busy a place is directly in the map view.
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Google Maps on Android should be the “main” iteration of the navigation app but like many Google applications, features bleed through to iOS first, then come to Android later. The latest such change is that of new vehicle icons, that have now very quietly been added to the Android version of Google Maps.
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