There are now a ton of food delivery services from DoorDash to Postmates, with each having their own app to download, sign-up for, and manage. Google is now integrating these services right into Assistant, Search, and Maps for a unified and direct experience.
In a blog post today, Google has confirmed the ability to ‘pay per ride’ from within the Google Pay application for those using New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and London’s Transport for London (TfL).
Google this year has ramped up Pixel advertising by directly targeting the iPhone and highlighting Night Sight. The “Phone X” campaign is now going after Apple Maps with AR navigation in Google Maps on the Pixel 3a.
Ahead of I/O 2019, Google announced a redesign of the in-car Android Auto experience, and later that week revealed how the phone app was being replaced by Assistant’s new driving mode. The company is now facing an antitrust probe by Italy over the lack of third-party mapping applications on the car platform.
Google at last year’s I/O previewed AR navigation in Google Maps. Over the past few months, the feature was rolled out to Local Guides users and this week to Pixel users. At an I/O 2019 session, Google addressed the absence of the cute AR navigating character.
Google Maps AR walking directions is now rolling out to all Pixel smartphones after being announced at I/O 2019.
Following Chrome and YouTube, Google is bringing an Incognito Mode to Google Maps soon to help users easily keep searches they don’t want linked to their account private.
Disregarding mapping and navigation, Yelp is a close competitor to Google Maps. Both services offer restaurant listings, feature user reviews, and even allow in-app reservations. Google Maps is now testing food menus with pictures from users.
Wear OS apps are pretty rough for the most part. Personally, I rarely use any of them at all. In recent weeks, though, the Google Maps app for Wear OS has been broken for many users, and that’s understandably frustrating.
Google Maps is now able to show you the real-time availability of nearby EV charging stations when you use the map search feature.
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New features are constantly being added to Google Maps, and today a handy new addition has rolled out. If you’ve copied an address to your clipboard, Google Maps for Android will now suggest it for searches.
Alphabet’s relationship with Uber is wide-ranging and increasingly contentious. The ridesharing company filed its S1 today ahead of an initial public offering. A number of details about the relationship were revealed, including Uber’s usage of Google Maps and the Waymo threat.
Google Maps is probably the company’s most used, most successful service. While it’s a treasure trove for Google when it comes to user data, it’s never been big on advertising. According to a new report, however, it seems like Google Maps could soon start showing a lot more ads.
If you have a daily commute, Google Maps’ recent addition of incident reporting features has probably come in handy more than once. Now, it seems Google is aiming to further improve this feature by adding the ability to report slowdowns causing traffic jams.
Spotify is testing further integration with Google Maps as well as a Sleep Timer, and song sharing.
Last year, the rebranded Google Pay added a slew of new features, including passes and transit cards. The payment app now supports Mobile myki in Australia with a number of smart features, while the app recently added a Material Theme account switcher.
Google Maps is currently rolling out the ability for users to create public events at a specific business or location.
Google has slowly been rolling out its revised take on Material Design for the past several months. Following a similar update to its Android app, Google Maps is now picking up Google Material Theme elements on the web.
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Google last year revamped its Maps Platform API and also catered it towards AR gaming. Many of these experiences, like Pokémon Go, take advantage of location data and today Google is adding three new features to makes games more immersive, realistic, and powerful.
Earlier this year, Google Maps rolled out the welcome addition of speed limits in navigation, and also started showing speed traps and accidents too. Now, it seems like reporting features for speed traps and accidents are rolling out more widely.
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Towards the tail end of 2018, Google Maps added the ability for users to find out the location of Lime scooters in a very few select cities globally. The service has now rolled out to a further 80 cities around the planet.
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Earlier this month, Google provided the first demo of AR navigation in Maps for Android and announced that Local Guides will be the first users to gain access. Google this week is now reaching out to Local Guides on both Android and iOS.
One of the most used apps on your device is probably Google Maps. From navigation to information about nearby businesses, it’s a huge source of information. Now, Google is introducing a complaint form for Maps which allows easy reporting of misleading or fraudulent activity.
Over the weekend, Google Maps co-creator Bret Taylor shared a funny anecdote about the early days of the product. The Twitter thread tells the story of how Sergey Brin wanted to name what is widely known today as the “Satellite” map view “Bird Mode.”
