Google to me is a life-saver. I have been saved from straying or getting stranded in unknown terrain countless times. in this post, I shall be entertaining you with 11 new google maps features that are absolutely useful. Some of these features include a speed track, driving speed monitoring, a complaint form, and so on.
11 new Google Maps Features
After the brief introduction above, I will now be listing the eleven newest features of google maps as of 2019. The arrangement will be done in no particular order.
1. Google Maps now shows your speed in km/p or miles while you’re driving
Hats off, this is my personal favorite and it is because I am a speed bullet. I love racing on the highways and I love using google maps for navigation.
Luckily for people like me, Google isn’t just counting on speed limits in Maps to encourage safe driving, it’s now showing your actual speed. Android Police has learned that Google Maps is rolling out an optional speedometer that kicks in while you’re using driving navigation. It displays next to the current speed limit and changes color if you flaunt the law. The image above sums up my speed limits while cruising uptown.
How to Enable/Activate Speedometer on Google Maps in 3 Easy Steps
Surprisingly, activating the speedometer so as to serve as a speed monitoring tool on your google maps is very easy. All you need to do is to follow the steps below:
- First, Launch your google maps app
- Next, tap on the 3 parallel lines in the top left corner of your Google Map app.
- Scroll down to “settings” and open it. Scroll further down to the navigation settings.
- Finally, turn on the button for “speedometer”. For clarity, I have summarized all of these in an image. see the image below
2. Google Maps now has an Incident Reporting Feature
While we all know that Google Maps is not great for helping you get from point A to point B, it can do so much more.
Google Maps users can now flag car accidents and speed traps from the Google Maps app. User-submitted data that utilized real-time reporting of collisions and speed traps, is mainly what boosted Waze’s popularity for Google to purchase it in the first place.
What’s great about the new incident reporting feature is its efficiency when it comes to commuting and reducing the time spent when you’re stuck in traffic. The success of this feature will be reached when more Google Maps users become aware of the feature and start using it. Eventually, it will improve the navigation experience and make life easier.
Through machine learning and AI systems, the app will adapt faster to heavy traffic conditions and suggest different routes in order to avoid a traffic jam ahead.
3. Google Maps Popular Dishes and Restaurants Feature
Also now available on google maps is a new feature that will select the most popular dish, most people buy at a restaurant. This feature enhances the power of machine learning by analyzing the reviews and pictures taken in the restaurant.
Google Maps will do this by using reviews and ratings from apps that offer a convenient dining experience. It will also use the pictures uploaded by them. To determine the popularity of the dish before suggesting it to you.
The more reviews, the better the restaurant will be visible to users. Basically, Google Maps uses crowd-sourced photos of dishes derived from listed restaurants on Google Maps.
This new update adds an extra tab to the Menu page called “Popular Dishes” on a restaurant’s listing.
4. Google Maps Now Feature a Complaint Report Form for Businesses
Another feature that was recently added to google maps is the Business Redressal Complaint Form. This form enables searchers and users to report fraudulent activity relating to businesses on Google Maps.
The form will ask specifically for your name, email, entity impacted, type of content impacted, public URL, screenshot, and then a description box where you will elaborate on the issue.
Summarily, if anyone comes across misleading information or fraudulent activity on Google Maps that is related to the name, phone number, or URL of a business, one may use this form to submit a complaint. Complaints will be reviewed in accordance with the guidelines for representing businesses listed on Google Maps.
Related to this Article:
- Here is how the Development of Smartphones mainly rely on the Innovation and Revolution of Android
- Google Duplex: An Artificial intelligence that talks like a man, is this ethical?
- Google Blogger/Blogspot top Ten SEO Optimization tips for Webmasters
5. Google Maps Trip Progress Sharing Just got Better
This is not so new a feature, nonetheless, it has gotten even better with the newest google maps update. You just might not know when your safety might be endangered. Hence, It is important to inform your family, friends, or colleagues of your whereabouts on a trip. Aside from that, there could be a need for you to update people if you’re bound to be late for an appointment, or an emergency has occurred.
You can make use of this feature from within the map app. The features work with SMS, email, and almost all social messaging apps such as Whatsapp. It alerts the receiver(s) of your real-time location and destination. This is a very good one from Google.
6. of the 11 new Google Maps features is the Speed Traps
Sometimes, we find ourselves in undesirable situations where the road was too messy and held us up in traffic that won’t even let us have a glance at the navigation app. Google Maps is well aware of the situation and has established a new speed trap feature to make the driving experience easier.
To make the experience friendlier, Google Maps has incorporated the use of different tags, icons, labels, and colors that will represent key details. The colors used will be green, orange, and red; indicating low, medium, and high traffic, respectively. Users will be able to pre-conceive an idea of the traffic conditions just by looking at the color of the road. For example, red indicates heavy traffic while orange indicates slow vehicular movement. Blue, of course, implies that the road is free of traffic”.
In addition, this new speed trap Google Maps feature will be able to show Speed Camera notifications – which indicate upcoming speed cameras, speed limits, and mobile speed cameras in a few countries, including:
Australia
Brazil
U.S.
Canada
U.K.
Tunisia
Zimbabwe
India
Mexico
Russia
Japan
Morocco
Andorra
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czechia
Estonia
Finland
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Israel
Italy
Jordan
Kuwait
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Namibia
Netherlands
Norway
Oman
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
7. Google Assitant is now Integrated into Google Maps
As you drive around, you might require to make a stopover. With other navigation apps, search for stopovers, such as convenience stores or gas stations. Requires us to reset the app and do another navigation trip.
Luckily, Google Maps’ new Assistant Integration feature makes use of Google Assistant, along with a search menu that enables users to look for nearby locations highlighted on the map.
8. Google Maps Augmented Reality(AR) Navigation
Google Maps AR was launched to assist users to utilize the power of augmented reality by helping them to navigate when walking. Meaning, it uses the rear camera of the phone/tablet to identify your physical location, superimposing direction, and technical displays, other than just providing a map for you.
AI (Artificial Intelligence) identifies what is in sight, while the GPS shows your particular position as it is on the map. Google Maps AR helps one to get around especially when you have no idea of which direction to take when walking.
After you have searched for a destination to walk to, the AR page will open and suggest the best route to be taken. The process will start showing directions with normal voice instructions.
Google Maps will then try to distinguish what is around you by scanning the images on your camera and comparing it to Street View imagery. This will be shown at the top of the screen, while the bottom will contain the standard walking directions.
9. Google Maps now Features a Parking Spot Suggestion
Number 9 of the 11 new google maps features revolve around parking spots.
Since parking is a critical part of the entire driving and navigating experience, Google has launched the Parking Spot Suggestion feature in Google Maps.
The feature builds on existing Google Maps parking-related notifications which issue a mid-trip prompt and offer to add a stop on your route for recommended parking locations before reaching your destination.
10. Google Maps now Suggests EV Charging Station
Every Electronic vehicle requires a recharge at one point or the other.
A readily available charging network is crucial for ensuring EV (electric vehicle) owners have reliable charging stations and can get immediate service when they need it.
The previous google maps EV charger location feature could simply search for any nearby station or charging facilities. But with the new feature, the maps is able to provide live updates on chargers being currently used, and other critical info that adds real-time accessibility and convenience for EV users.
In addition, this feature is available in the US and UK and comprises information from charging facilities such as Chargemaster, EVgo, and SemaConnect.
11. Music Streaming Integration with Google Maps
The music playback option is now available on google maps. In other words, you can now enjoy songs from your favorite article while navigating. The only limitation, for now, is that it works only with “google play music” at the moment.
Most commuters listen to their favorite music on the way to their destination. Unfortunately, one has to switch back and forth between music and navigation apps – which tends to be difficult.
Google Maps’ new music integration feature enables you to incorporate music streaming apps. Spotify, Apple Music, or Google Play Music are available to use while using Google Maps.
To enable this feature, open maps>> go to settings>> navigation settings>> then toggle the “show media playback controls on”. See the image above for the steps.
Leave a Reply