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 for iOS was today updated to version 4.30.0, introducing a new Directions Widget that allows Google Maps users to access turn-by-turn navigation directly on the lock screen of the iPhone. The widget can be enabled by going to the Today View of the Notification Center, scrolling down to the "Edit" button, and then enabling Google Directions. Once turned on, turn-by-turn navigation...

Google today announced an update coming to the iOS, Android, and desktop versions of Google Maps will introduce a way for users to share their real-time locations with friends and family. Google's update differs from the location sharing in Apple Maps, Messages, and Find My Friends, which all lack the ability to follow friends around on a map in real-time. In Google Maps on iOS, users will be...

Google Maps today updated its iOS and Android apps with a listing feature that lets users save and add their favorite locations to customized lists, which they can subsequently share to friends and family. Once a list is created, users can also follow other people's lists for inspiration when visiting new cities. To add a location into a list, navigate to it in the Google Maps app and tap...

Google updated its Maps app for iOS today to include the live crowd-tracking feature that's been popular with users of its Maps web service for some time. While the maps app has had day-by-day, hour-by-hour charts that display when a business or retail location tends to be at its busiest, version 4.27 of the app augments that information with live data to tell users how busy the location is...

Google is rolling out an update to Google Maps for iOS that lets users request a ride from Uber without ever having to leave the app. Previously, users of Maps could get a ride cost estimate and start the process of hailing a ride, but would eventually be kicked into the Uber app proper for confirmation and payment. Now however, users can book and pay for an Uber directly within Google...

Google's Santa Tracker finally went live today, allowing anyone with Google Maps installed on an iOS device to keep up with Santa's mythical journey across the world in real time. Users can type 'track santa' into the Google Maps search field to view the area in which Santa can be currently found dispensing gifts. Tapping the blue Santa icon in the bottom right of the screen offers up more...

Google has announced a new feature in its Search and Maps services that enables Black Friday shoppers to know how busy a store is in real time. Dubbed "crowd control", the live feature comes on the back of the company's Popular Times feature, introduced last year, that lets users check how busy a place typically is at different times of the week. Just in time for the Black Friday swarms, ...

Google tonight updated its Maps app, adding food delivery support for popular services like Grubhub, Seamless, Eat 24 and more. The update also makes it easier for users to find plus codes and to take and add photos within the app. Food delivery support is available on many restaurant pages within Google Maps. There's a new "Place an order" option above the restaurant's phone number and...

Ride hailing company Uber is planning to spend $500 million on a global mapping project in an effort to reduce its reliance on Google Maps, according to The Financial Times. The San Fransisco-based company already has mapping vehicles recording geographical data around the U.S. and Mexico. With Uber's presence in over 60 countries, the significant expansion reflects its continuing growth and...

Google announced yesterday that it has begun rolling out new high-definition satellite imagery of Earth to its Google Earth and Google Maps apps. The company said it was introducing a new cloud-free mosaic of the Earth's surface made up of high-resolution images taken by Landsat 8, a satellite deployed by the USGS and NASA in 2013. Google Earth image of New York City before update New ...

Google Maps for iOS was updated with a number of new features yesterday, including a Notification Center widget for commuters on the move and an in-app option for sharing directions. The new Travel Times extension for Google's popular iOS maps app allows users to quickly check a live travel time estimation to their home or work with a simple pull down of the Notification Center. The...

Google today updated its Google Maps app with a new ride service tab, Spotlight Search integration and the ability to save route options. While Uber has been integrated into Google Maps for the past two years, the new ride service tab allows users to more easily access pickup times and prices. In international destinations, Google has integrated several other ride hailing companies. If you...

Google today announced an incoming update to its Google Maps for iOS app that will let users add pit stops onto their trips without leaving navigation mode. First introduced on Android last fall, the company said that the pit stop feature will be available in any country where Google Maps navigation is offered, which is "more than 100 worldwide." From navigation mode, users will just need to...

Google has announced that the latest version of Google Maps for Android has an improved offline mode, providing access to turn-by-turn directions and several other features in areas without a reliable cellular data or internet connection. It also confirmed these features will be coming soon to iOS, but did not provide a specific release timeframe. Google Maps was previously limited to viewing...

Google today updated its Google Maps app to version 4.12, adding spoken traffic alerts in navigation mode as well as the ability to easily add new or missing businesses from the app's sidebar. Spoken traffic alerts will tell users about traffic congestion and incidents on a user's route. Additionally, users will get traffic descriptions summarizing traffic conditions before they set off on...

Google today updated its Google Maps app for iOS to version 4.11.0, adding support for the Apple Watch. As of today, there's a Google Maps app that delivers directions on Apple's wrist-worn device. Along with a new Apple Watch app, today's update also includes a tool for comparing estimated travel times across driving, transit, walking and biking directions, and it adds a feature for calling...

Amid the fanfare of the Apple Watch launch, a few eagle eyed employees at Team Android today discovered an unusual easter egg within Google Maps. Visiting these specific coordinates on the outskirts of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Team Android found an image of the Google Android mascot urinating over the Apple logo to be embedded within the map itself. It's yet to be made clear who exactly created ...

Google today updated its Google Maps app to version 4.2, adding a number of new features to enhance the user experience including filters to sort restaurant searches by cuisine and built-in weather information for various cities around the world. It's now possible for users to drop pins for both starting and destination points when mapping out directions, and Google Maps allows users to add...

With the launch of iPhoto for iOS last Wednesday, it was quickly noted that the app was not using Google Maps for much of its mapping data, and it was soon revealed that Apple was using data from OpenStreetMap and other sources in the application. Google Maps has had a prominent presence on the iPhone since its initial launch in 2007, but strained relationships between Google and Apple have...