Landmarks and Bike Tours
The three latest innovations in Google Maps
Google is giving “Maps” an AI-driven update.
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The most popular of all map apps gets three new features. What there is to know about the Google Maps update.
Anyone who finds that there is nothing to improve on “Google Maps” has made the calculation without the developers of the IT giant. They have come up with three new functions that invite you to extensive exploration tours on the screen. They mainly use artificial intelligence to get even more out of the service. These are the three new features of “Google Maps”.
Sightseeing thanks to AI
“Maps” (Android/iOS) users the option to upload photos from any location. This happens particularly often in famous places like the Empire State Building in New York, Big Ben in London or the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Now Google is giving all of this – and other data such as satellite and street view images – to an artificial intelligence, which uses them to create a 360-degree aerial photograph. Finding it is child’s play: simply type in the sight of your choice in the search bar and the moving image recording can be seen in the photo area. This is a short video that cannot be interacted with, but which allows a worthwhile insight into the respective sight and its surroundings. If you can’t find the feature on your device yet, you don’t have to wait much longer: Because it’s a server-side update, the rollout will take a few days – older devices are also able to do this, the short videos within the app to represent.
More information for cyclists
Being navigated by “Maps” by bike has been standard in the app for more than twelve years. However, navigation has so far paid little attention to aspects such as gradients or traffic density. That changes with the latest update. In the future, “Maps” will not only show the elevation profile of a route, but will also provide more detailed information about the course of the route. Even before the journey, users can find out whether the route is taking them along busy main roads or quiet side roads. Here, too, artificial intelligence is used, which Google would like to rely on even more in the future, like the company in his blog states: “AI will continue to play a crucial role in making Google Maps an even more comprehensive and useful map for people around the world.”
Where are my friends?
Sharing your location with friends is already possible today via “Maps”. Users can choose whether they only want to make their GPS location visible for a certain period of time or until the function is deactivated again. Google also leaves it up to its users with whom they share this information. In order to deepen the feature, “Maps” now offers the possibility of being informed by push notification when someone has reached a certain location. There are many application examples for this: from large crowds such as concerts, where it is easy to get lost, to the classic “Please get in touch when you get home”. If you arrive at the specified location, people with whom you have shared your location and for whom you have activated notifications will automatically receive a notification.