Google Maps is invaluable when you need to get around town and while you’re on vacation. The increasing complexity of the tool can make it harder to wrap your head around it, though.Google has announcedit’s combating this with the help of a big redesign and AI, bringing more contrast to its maps and making it easier to find specific things to do. It’s also finally rolling out Immersive View for Routes, first teased during Google I/O this year.
New Google Maps colors
Google is rolling out a big tweak to the colors it’s using for maps. The company claims that the updated colors “will reflect the real world even more accurately.” On top of that, Maps also displays buildings more realistic in order to help you understand better where you are when you’re navigating. As always, Google is taking a slow approach to the rollout, saying that the new look will “start rolling out in the coming months in 12 countries, including the U.S., Canada, France, and Germany.”
We’ve previously seen this redesigned color scheme in testing, with it showing up as early as September this year. People have compared it to Apple Maps’ approach to colors, which is easier to understand in many circumstances.
Immersive View for Routes
Another big addition to Maps is Immersive View for Routes. The company first announced this feature during Google I/O this year. It’s supposed to give you a photorealistic preview of your route in a bird’s eye view, allowing you to get a good idea of where you need to drive, walk, or cycle to get to your destination. The company says it is now finally rolling out this new way to navigate in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tokyo and Venice on Android and iOS.
Immersive View is already available in Maps in some cities, but for now, it only works for places, allowing you to get a good idea of what a new area looks like before you go there.
Easier navigation and more EV details
Google will also make it easier for EV owners to reduce charging anxiety. Android and iOS users will be able to see additional information about charging stations near them, including details on how fast chargers are and when they were last used. The latter information is supposed to help you weed out broken chargers. Google says this is direly needed since about 25% of all chargers in the US are broken. These features have previously been available in EVs with Google built-in, and they’re now also accessible for everyone else.
People in the US will also get a better look ahead while they’re navigating, with HOV lanes being displayed along the route “soon.” In Europe, Google is rolling out its AI-powered speed limitation information further, coming to 20 countries in total. Both of these things will roll out to Android, iOS, and cars in the coming months. When navigating on highways, it will be easier to see which lanes you have to take, too.
AI-powered search enhancements
Google is also revamping search on Maps. It will become much easier to search for extremely specific things, with Google offering examples such as “animal latte art” or “pumpkin patch with my dog.” For these searches, Google will dig through the billions of images shared by Google users and surface these first, with information about the place in question attached to them. This new experience is coming to France, Germany, Japan, the
UK, and the US “this week,” and Google will ”expand to more countries over time.”
You will also get help from Google in the opposite situation, when you don’t know what exactly to do. Using the search term “things to do,” Google Maps will offer thematic place suggestions like “anime”, “cherry blossoms,” or “art exhibitions.” You can then tap places to find out more about them or add them to a list for later exploration. Google says that this is rolling out globally on Android and iOS “in the coming weeks.”
Search with Live View is now Lens in Maps
In classic Google fashion, the company is additionally rebranding an existing feature. Rather than “Search with Live View,” you will soon be using “Lens in Maps.” The scope of the feature remains the same, though. You can use it to orient yourself with AR in the real world, like when you leave a subway station and you’re not exactly sure which direction to go. There will be a new Lens icon in the search bar, too, which will allow you to jump right into Google Maps’ Lens view. It makes it possible to get additional information about nearby places right in your viewfinder. As part of the rebranding, the feature is “coming to more than 50 new cities including Austin, Las Vegas, Rome, São Paulo, and Taipei.”
There is good news for developers, too. The aforementioned EV charging information will be available via the Places API, allowing them to add these details to their own websites and apps. On top of that, Immersive View for places is also coming for developers with the launch of a new Photorealistic 3D Tiles, which the company has been testing since May.
