Google Maps

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.