Google Maps Rolling Out These New Navigation Features This Week

[MacRumors]

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.

Article Link: Google Maps Rolling Out These New Navigation Features This Week

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

The correct lane position feature might have me move back from Apple Maps especially in the metro area.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

We'll see if these make it into Carplay or not...

..for example, why doesn't it pass along custom names for favorite/bookmarked places? 😢

 

[wanha]

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.

 

[icanhazmac]

Here's a feature suggestion: Don't sell my location data to the entire planet.

 

[mikebenton]

I don't use any Google products because I have believed that Google's core is marketing, and every product/service is just way to feed its marketing engine. Am I wrong to believe this?

 

[psxp]

Waze and Google maps seem to becoming very similar..

 

[Astuces iOS]

Waze and Google maps seem to becoming very similar..

They are both by google and I use Apple Maps

 

[ch1ptune]

Yikes. That UI is horrible. What a strange colour palette.

 

[redbeard331]

And still no live activities.

 

[benroberts3]

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.

 

[Schtibbie]

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.

 

[EU-Regulations]

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.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Weren't they planning to merge the Google Maps with Waze at some point?

 

[MacTwick]

I don't use any Google products because I have believed that Google's core is marketing, and every product/service is just way to feed its marketing engine. Am I wrong to believe this?

No.. Because that's literally how Google makes money. The majority of Google's services are free, they make money off of ads but they do so well at it because they can target specific ads due to data they generate from their users.

 

[orev]

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.

 

[bLackjackj]

Waze and Google maps seem to becoming very similar..

Thats because the same teams work on both. All the backend data in waze is integrated into google maps.

 

[SVTmaniac]

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.

What if I told you that you can just turn right and either do a U-turn? Or if you live in a backwards state that doesn’t allow U-turns you can just turn left into another parking lot then turn right out of that lot. It’s a hard concept for some to grasp, I understand.

 

[SirGadwall]

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.

Waze already has this and has had it for several years. It's called "Difficult Turns" and you can toggle the "Avoid Difficult Turns" in the settings. The caveat is the turn has to be programmed by an editor on the map, so it's up to you to report a map issue if you encounter something like this. The feature is nice because you can set the turn as difficult during certain hours/days instead of 24/7.

Edit: I believe it does this by adding a time penalty to the difficult turn thus discouraging it from being suggested

 

[goshya]

Still no Google Maps mini map on Apple Watch though. Apple Watch is the most useless piece of hardware one can buy from Apple. (Unless one is into the health features I assume, have never tried)

 

[peneaux]

Sad will be the day Apple decides to put ads or other garbage in Maps to make more money.

 

[mansplains]

Still no Google Maps mini map on Apple Watch though.

Apple Maps offers a miniature map view on AW. I figure Google would rather not devote resources reinventing the wheel here.

Apple Watch is the most useless piece of hardware one can buy from Apple. (Unless one is into the health features I assume, have never tried)

What does this have to do with third-party software?

 

[henrod]

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.

Article Link: Google Maps Rolling Out These New Navigation Features This Week

Waze, too??

 

[ctyrider]

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.

I don’t use Apple Maps mainly because they are eons behind Google in point of interest discovery. Google maps has its own in app review system, while Apple still redirects you to awful Yelp for restaurant reviews.

 

[un4gvn]

I want a pause route button. When I'm on a long trip, and have arrived at whatever exit has a Starbucks (few and far between sometimes, believe it or not), I want it to pause long enough for me to park, order, pee, wash hands for however long my Watch tells me, 😂, then when I get everything hooked back up in the car, I want to resume the trip without it bugging me every two seconds, or forgetting the whole trip.