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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Back at I/O 2019, Google announced that the on-phone experience of Android Auto was on the way out, set to be replaced with a new “Google Assistant Driving Mode” experience. As of the most recent beta update to the Google app, we’ve finally been able to enable Assistant Driving Mode and get a preview of how it will look and work.
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Google Maps Live View uses augmented reality to overlay arrows, directions, and now landmarks over the real world to make navigating easier. The feature is getting a number of big updates today.
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At the start of this month, we spotted Google working on a Maps dark mode for Android. The Google Maps dark theme is now beginning to roll out for some users and it encompasses the entire app.
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Google Maps may already have a dedicated in-car navigation system built into Android Auto, but now it looks like the smartphone application is set to get a very familiar look and feel with a new car mode UI.
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Since the start of this year, Google has added a number of useful resources about how to get around amid a pandemic. A new Google Maps layer now works to show COVID-19 case trends “in an area so you can make more informed decisions.”
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Google gave Maps on mobile a big revamp earlier this year. Like all other first-party apps, the design is always being tweaked and Google Maps for Android now features a pill-shaped search field.
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Last month, Google announced that Maps is coming back to watchOS after leaving the platform in 2017. Google Maps for Apple Watch is now available following the latest update.
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The launch of Android 11 coincides with the quarterly Pixel Feature Drop. In addition to the general platform release, Google’s first-party devices pick up some exclusive features, with the most notable being Live View Location Sharing in Google Maps.
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During the coronavirus pandemic, Google has been trying to provide useful data to its users through some of its most popular products. Now, it appears that Google Maps is preparing to add a new layer that shows where COVID-19 outbreaks are at their worst.
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Following the Home app last month, one of the last first-party apps that needs a dark mode is Google Maps. Fortunately, the latest version of the Android client finally reveals that work is underway.
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