Google Maps

If you prefer using Google Maps over Apple Maps on your iPhone or iPad, it's useful to know that you have the ability to manage how long your map search history is stored on Google's servers. This article shows you how. When you start typing the name of somewhere in Google Maps, the app throws up suggestions of your recent searches for places and directions, which can be useful if you visit...

Google Maps has quietly been updated to include significantly more detailed street-level information in a handful of key cities around the world. Upon zooming in, Google's maps for Central London, Tokyo, San Francisco, and New York now benefit from shapes and widths that match the scale of roads more accurately. Meanwhile, enhanced graphical representations of sidewalks, crosswalks,...

Google Maps gained three new features today to help users stay safe amid the coronavirus pandemic, including an expansion of its live transit "crowdedness" status information. Crowdedness data shows the real-time state of transit lines when users look up directions. The information is crowdsourced and relies on in-app feedback from users. Before today, Google Maps only showed the data for...

Live View in Google Maps uses your iPhone's camera and GPS to provide augmented reality directions when you're walking somewhere, and this week Google announced that it's enhancing the feature and making it available in additional transit scenarios. In Live View, arrows, directions, and distance markers are placed right on top of your surroundings to visualize your destination in the real...

Google in August announced the launch of a new Google Maps app that's designed for the Apple Watch, and at the time, Google said that it would be rolling out "in the coming weeks." The Apple Watch app has gone live based on reports from Reddit users who downloaded the latest iPhone update and were able to install the Google Maps app on the Apple Watch. The Google Maps app for Apple Watch...

Google today announced a major update for Google Maps, which will see the feature gaining more detail and granularity to better highlight natural features and terrain. Google is introducing a new color-mapping algorithmic technique that can take the high-definition satellite imagery used for Google Maps and turn it into what Google says is a "comprehensive, vibrant map of an area at a global ...

Google today announced the launch of several features for Google Maps on Apple products, including new CarPlay functionality and a new Google Maps app that works on Apple Watch. The new Google Maps app for Apple Watch works similarly to the iOS app, allowing Apple Watch owners to get directions for a car, bike, public transit, or on foot. The app supports estimated arrival times and...

Google is rolling out new bike sharing information as part of its cycling route coverage in Google Maps. The new feature means users will be able to get directions using rented bikes from docked bike-share schemes like Divvy in Chicago and Santander Cycles in London. The new functionality means it will be possible to get end-to-end navigation routes that include walking directions to get to...

Google has rolled out several new transit features to Google Maps on iOS and Android that aim to help users travel safely as lockdown measures gradually ease in some countries following the coronavirus pandemic. The latest version of Google Maps alerts users whose travel will be impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, including requirements like wearing a mask on public transport and whether a...

Google is currently rolling out an update for Google Maps that aims to make it easier for wheelchair users to get information about the accessibility of locations. By enabling the app's Accessible Places feature, users can benefit from increased visibility of businesses and places of interest on the map that are marked as wheelchair-accessible, including whether a location has accessible...

This week marks 15 years since Google Maps first launched, and Google is celebrating with some notable new features and updates for the mapping service app on iOS and Android. The five tabs on the new Google Maps navigation screen Starting today, the Google Maps will feature a new navigation system across the bottom of the interface including five icons, two of which are completely new:...

Google today announced that it is extending Incognito mode to Google Maps on iOS devices, allowing users to look for directions privately without that information being saved to a Google Account. Google introduced Incognito mode for Android devices earlier this year as part of a 2019 focus on making it easier to control, manage, and delete Location History information. When you make a...

Google Maps has gained a new detailed voice guidance feature to help users with impaired vision get where they're going to on foot. With a launch timed to honor World Sight Day, the feature continually reminds the user that they're on the correct route, the distance until their next turn and the direction they're walking in. Detailed voice guidance also provides the user with warnings...

Augmented reality walking directions in Google Maps got a step closer today with news that a beta version of the AR feature will be rolling out to users of the app over the next couple of weeks (via TechCrunch). Google revealed AR walking directions earlier this year, when it launched an early alpha mode for Google Pixel owners and users of Google Maps Local Guides, but now it's making the ...

Google Maps this week expanded real-time bikesharing information to 23 additional cities in 16 countries around the world. In addition to New York City, the feature is now available in Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Chicago, Dublin, Hamburg, Helsinki, Kaohsiung, London, Los Angeles, Lyon, Madrid, Mexico City, Montreal, New Taipei City, Rio de Janeiro, the San Francisco Bay Area, São ...

Google today announced a major update for Google Maps on both Android and iOS, introducing new transit-related features. Google Maps will now provide details on live traffic delays for buses in places where real-time information doesn't exist from local transit agencies, which will let Maps users see if a bus will be late, how long the delay might be, and how long travel might take. Me ...

Google has incorporated food ordering features into its mobile apps, allowing iOS and Android users to order food directly from a range of companies without having to install an additional app or visit a website. The functionality is available across U.S. cities in Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Assistant apps, and works through partnerships with existing delivery companies including ...

Google Maps has temporarily gained a new trick for April Fools', with users of the mobile app able to play a geographical version of the classic game Snake. To play the game, simply launch the Google Maps app, tap the menu icon in the top-left corner of the interface, then select Play Snake. Pick which city you'd like to play in – options include Cairo, London, San Francisco, São...

Google Maps this week updated its iOS app with a new "Follow" feature, letting you keep track of events and news from your favorite local restaurants, bakeries, or bars. You can follow a location by searching for it in Google Maps on iOS, and then tapping "Follow" under the hours of operation. After you follow a business, all of their updates then appear in the new "For You" tab of Google...

Google is currently rolling out support for road speed limits and speed traps in its navigation app, Google Maps. When drivers are using the app, the speed limit feature shows the speed limit of the road they are driving on in the lower left of the screen. Image via Android Police Speed traps are indicated with a small camera icon and shown on the visible map area. According to Android...

Google is adding its Google Assistant feature to the Google Maps apps for iOS and Android, Google announced today. The feature will be available on iPhones starting this afternoon, with Google planning to enable Assistant for Google Maps via an update that's rolling out "shortly." On iOS and Android devices, Google Assistant will allow Google Maps users to control their navigation, reply to ...