Tag: google maps features

Google Maps Makes It Easier to Find EV Chargers, Search Now Shows Sustainable Travel Options

Google announced new features for Maps and Search on Earth Day (April 17). The latest update is tailored for electric vehicles and lets travellers find specific information about the location of EV chargers, plan charging stops for road trips and more. The search giant will show AI-generated navigation information describing the charger’s specific location based on details from user reviews. Additionally, Google Maps and Search now show sustainable travel options including public transit and walking routes that create fewer carbon emissions alongside driving directions. This update will roll out to fifteen cities around the world.

Through a blog post, Google has announced a series of changes to its Maps and Search services aimed at promoting EV use and sustainable travel for everyone. In the coming months, Google Maps will show AI-powered summaries that describe an EV charger’s specific location based on information from user reviews. This will include details about the experience of other users, waiting time, type of plugs and more to enable better navigation to EV charging stations.

On top of that, Google Maps will soon be able to suggest EV charging stations near users while on the road based on their battery’s charge level. It will display nearby chargers on the in-car map with details including real-time port availability and charging speed. This feature will be rolled out globally in the coming months, starting with vehicles that have Google built-in. Further, with a new EV filter Google is making it easier to find hotels on Search that offer onsite EV charging.

Meanwhile, Google Maps is bringing a new feature that shows public transit or walking suggestions next to driving routes. This will be available in the coming weeks in over fifteen cities around the world, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, London, Montreal, Paris, Rome, and Sydney.

Additionally, Google is adding more information on up-to-date train and bus schedules on the Maps with ticket prices along with links to book trips. This feature is now available for trains in 38 countries and long-distance bus routes in 15 countries.

Furthermore, Google Flights will start showing train route suggestions in the flight search results in the coming month.

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Google Maps Gets Curated Recommendations, Customised Lists, and More to Help Users Plan Travels

Google Maps is getting three new updates that are designed to assist users on their travels. In order to provide personalised suggestions to users, Google has added curated lists of recommendations from top sites and the Google Maps community on Maps. The second Google Maps update lets users compile a list of places they want to go and keep track of the places they have been. Additionally, Google is bringing AI to Maps to offer summarised key insights for searched places. The company is also bringing a design update for Google Maps.

Alphabet-owned Google, announced the arrival of new features on Google Maps via a blog post on Thursday (March 28). The first Maps update will assist users in discovering curated recommended lists from top sites and the Google Maps community. When users search for a city in Maps they can swipe up to see curated lists of recommendations from people who know the city well. Additionally, users can avail of suggestions from sites such as Lonely Planet and OpenTable. This feature will be available this week in 40 cities in the US and Canada. The list can be saved on the Maps app or shared with contacts.

Google Maps is making ready three types of curated lists. The “trending” list will include “places that have recently seen a spike in popularity on Maps.” The ‘top’ list identifies places that are consistently popular with the Maps community. Finally, the ‘gems’ list will assist in finding great restaurants that still fly under the radar.

Additionally, Google is making creating lists easier in Google Maps. With this update, users can create lists by tapping the New List button from the Saved tab. This will help to organise places they want to go and keep track of the places they have been to. while travelling, these listings can be used to organise recommendations like an itinerary. Users will be able to link to the list of content from their social channels. These updates roll out globally on Android and iOS later this month.

Finally, Google will now use AI to identify “key insights from the Maps community.” This AI-backed feature will use photos and reviews of a place to summarise what people love about the location when they search for a place in Maps.

Additionally, Google confirmed that a new design update is on the way for the Maps app. It is confirmed to get a refreshed home screen with fewer tabs and new pin colours.

Google I/O 2023 saw the search giant repeatedly tell us that it cares about AI, alongside the launch of its first foldable phone and Pixel-branded tablet. This year, the company is going to supercharge its apps, services, and Android operating system with AI technology. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Google Maps is Reportedly Testing Entrance and Exit Icons on Large Buildings

Google Maps might be working on an important accessibility feature, as per a report. The popular mapping platform is said to be working on a new feature that shows the entrances and exits of large buildings to help users navigate directions and park vehicles in more convenient locations. The feature reportedly showed up in the Google Pixel 7a, so it is likely being tested for Android, however, it could not be confirmed if the same feature was being built for iOS as well.

A report by Android Authority highlighted that the feature showed up while testing the app. It was available in Google Maps for Android version 11.17.0101 on the Google Pixel 7a. At Gadgets 360, we were unable to see the feature on the Google Maps app with the same version number. This is likely because the Pixel smartphone was running a beta Android build. As per the report, the entrances and exits were visible when zoomed in on a building.

While zoomed in, selecting a building will show white circular icons with green outlines and will highlight the building in a red shade. The circle contains an entrance icon (an open square bracket with an arrow symbol pointing towards it). The icon appeared in front of where the entrances to the buildings are supposed to be, as per the report. The publication found the entrances across New York, Las Vegas, and San Francisco in the US and around Berlin, Germany.

One anomaly was also seen in the feature. While some buildings had the abovementioned icon, some others reportedly showed a simple circle with an arrow icon. The publication also highlighted that for some buildings, the icon was not accurately placed where the entrance was. However, these anomalies can be attributed to the feature being in the testing phase and these will likely be ironed out by the time it is rolled out for the general public.

Last month, a report revealed that Google Maps might soon roll out an update that overhauls the design of certain elements. The tech giant is said to have reworked how the user interface while searching for directions and selecting locations is displayed in the app, ditching the full-screen in favour of a bottom sliding sheet layout. Further, the report claimed that clicking on a particular transport mode only extends a bottom sheet with the map still visible in the background.

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Google Maps Redesign Brings Clutter-Free Interface for Directions Search, New Bottom Sheet Design

Google Maps for Android has reportedly received an important quality-of-life update, which will make it much easier to navigate through parts of the interface. According to a report, Google has reworked how the user interface (UI) while searching for directions is displayed in the app, ditching the full-screen in favour of a bottom sliding sheet layout. Additionally, Google Maps has also made upgrades to the Location interface which pops up when a user clicks on a landmark site for more information about it. It is not certain whether the redesign will be rolled out to users on iOS.

The new interface was spotted by 9to5Google, and screenshots shared by the publication show the redesigned Google Maps UI. According to the report, the directions search result page received the most significant upgrade. Earlier, the top of the page was filled with search fields and transportation options from edge to edge , while the bottom would show the estimated travel time along with buttons for ​Preview, Steps, and Pin.

In the new interface, the search fields are no longer connected to the edge and instead are placed centrally in a rectangular box with curved edges. The top of the screen and the sides still show the map. The transportation options have also been shifted to the bottom, which has adopted a sheet layout with a background sheet. Further, clicking on a particular transport mode does not open it in full-screen mode anymore, and instead only extends a bottom sheet with the map still visible in the background.

This new layout appears to be less cluttered and more immersive, while the removal of the full-screen transport selection window also enables users to switch between different options and see the changes in the map adjacently. These are also in line with Material Design 3 guidelines for the use of bottom sheets in apps.

Apart from this, interface changes have also been made to the Location and Places section, as per the report. A similar sheet layout can be seen when any location is tapped on the Google Maps’ Android app. The sheets are again not full screen, and a little bit of the top portion of the map can still be seen which both feels more immersive and can have a practical use case of adding context to the page. The new Location sheet also comes with Share and Close buttons.

Earlier this week, Google Maps began its wider rollout of another notable upgrade to the Android app where the weather forecast overlay was added to it. The feature added a small box around the left corner of the map browser which shows the current weather within the app, as well as the air quality index (AQI) whenever available. This feature has been available to iOS users for several years, albeit in a more simplified layout.

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Google Maps Brings a New Generative AI Feature to Improve Discovery

Google has announced new artificial intelligence (AI) powered updates coming soon to Google Maps that aim to help users discover new places. The latest generative AI feature will give personalised recommendations based on users’ specific needs. It uses large language models (LLMs) to analyse more than 250 million locations on Google Maps and contributions from over 300 million contributors to pull up suggestions on where to go. The generative AI tool in Google Maps will be rolling out this week to select Local Guides in the US.

Alphabet-owned Google, via a blog post on Friday (February 2), announced the arrival of a new generative AI feature to Google Maps. The new tool will assist users in exploring new places and provide tailor-made suggestions based on their specific needs. Using large-language models (LLMs), the new feature will analyse Maps’ detailed information on more than 250 million places and trusted insights from a community of over 300 million contributors to quickly make suggestions for where to go.

Select Local Guides, who voluntarily contribute reviews, photos, answers to questions, check facts and more on Google Maps, in the US can avail of the generative AI feature this week. A wider rollout of the new capability will take place after receiving feedback from these active members of the Google Maps community.

Google has listed a few examples of the generative AI search feature in use in the official announcement post. If a user is visiting San Francisco and wants to plan a few hours of thrifting for unique vintage finds, the user can ask Maps what they’re looking for, like “places with a vintage vibe in SF” and the AI models will analyse Maps’ information about nearby businesses and places along with photos, ratings and reviews from the Maps community to give suggestions.

Additionally, users will see results organised into categories along with photo carousels and review summaries. The conversation can be continued with follow-up questions like “How about lunch?” and the AI feature will suggest places matching the interests of users. Google claims the AI-powered feature will help in easily discovering places and exploring the world with Maps.

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