Google Maps is rolling out several new features to iOS and Android users this week, focusing on improved navigation and travel planning tools.
A new prominent "Add stops" button is being added alongside the Start button with the idea of simplifying route planning: It displays restaurants, gas stations, and points of interest along the way. This week's update also introduces weather disruption reporting, allowing drivers to mark and avoid hazards such as unplowed roads, flooding, or low visibility conditions.
In addition, arrival assistance is getting enhanced. Google Maps will now highlight nearby parking lots and prompt users to save their parking location. The app can then provide walking directions to the final destination using AR Live View navigation.
A more substantial navigation update is scheduled for next month, launching in over 30 metropolitan areas. This enhancement will provide clearer visualization of lanes, crosswalks, and road signs, with a blue line indicating the correct lane position during turns and merges.
Looking further ahead, Google has announced plans to integrate its Gemini AI technology into Maps in the coming months. This feature will allow users to ask natural language questions about locations and receive curated recommendations based on data from over 250 million places worldwide. The AI implementation will also provide summarized reviews and detailed answers about specific venues.
Monday December 2, 2024 2:57 am PST by Tim Hardwick
WhatsApp is set to end support for iOS versions older than iOS 15.1 from May next year, removing the chat platform's compatibility with several iPhone models in the process.
From May 5, 2025, WhatsApp will no longer be compatible with iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus models. Users with those devices won't be able to access the encrypted chat service after the specified date unless they ...
Wednesday November 27, 2024 1:05 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is expected to kick off 2025 by launching an all-new smart home hub, also referred to as a "command center," as early as March.
The hub is expected to feature around a six-inch display that can be attached to a tabletop base with a speaker, or mounted on a wall. The device is said to run a new "homeOS" operating system with a customizable widget-focused home screen, and it is expected...
Wednesday November 27, 2024 5:05 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in early December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as...
Friday November 29, 2024 5:17 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup.
If you plan to skip...
Thursday November 28, 2024 3:30 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch sometime in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for.
Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as...
Monday December 2, 2024 4:04 pm PST by Juli Clover
The foldable smartphone market has stalled with customer interest in foldables waning, but that could change when Apple debuts a foldable iPhone, according to display analyst Ross Young.
In a report on the current foldable smartphone market, Young says that Apple is expected to "enter the foldable market" in the second half of 2026. Apple's "dominant position in flagship smartphones" could...
Wednesday November 27, 2024 12:19 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch for 10 more months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
An imaginative iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models so far:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro ...
The first company that puts out a maps app that allows you to select avoids like "no unprotected left turns across giant roads at a stopsign with no light", and "no turning left out of a parking lot across giant roads" (which really is a subset of the first), will win my vote. I swear to god Apple Maps is constantly thinking that holding up an entire parking lot full of traffic so that *I* can turn left is somehow a good idea.
Even though these are good features, Google Maps is nothing more than my fail safe in case I can't find something on Apple Maps.
Which means Google Maps is the better product, if that's the one you go to when you need things to work correctly? Apple Maps has definitely gotten better, but this isn't really a good argument for it.
Here's a feature suggestion: Don't sell my location data to the entire planet.
In order to keep a minimum of privacy I cannot recommend Google Maps at all. Your location data is pretty expensive compared to your what's app conversations...
The data economy is growing fast with AI.
Apps don't need to be Maps apps to be collecting and selling your location. All apps that display ads are collecting it through their ad servers. At least with a Maps app you're getting some value for yourself as well, instead of the company getting all the value.
Apple is too restrictive with app capabilities in CarPlay. If Google Maps can’t include additional features in CarPlay, it feels almost pointless. Many people now connect their phones to their cars instead of using them as standalone navigation devices, especially with the prevalence of CarPlay.
GM isn’t 100% for me. Local driving it doesn’t matter, but in unfamiliar territory I always cross check the navigation against a different source. YMMV.
Google Maps once told me to use any lane of the 6-lanes-each-way freeway I was currently on, to make an immediate U-turn.
Apple Maps was rushed out the door because (IIRC) Google wanted access to creepy amounts of information about people using the Maps app, when the contract came up for renegotiation. Since then, it has improved by several orders of magnitude. I think a lot of the people claiming that Apple Maps is bad and Google Maps is great... haven't really tried using Apple Maps in a very long time.
