Photo: Google
Google has been working around the clock on further polishing Google Maps both on the phone and in the car, and after several big announcements at I/O 2021, the company is now back with a series of app updates for Android and Android Auto.
And while the search giant hasn’t provided any changelog for these new releases, there’s a good chance they pave the way for the new features revealed at Google’s biggest annual event.
First and foremost, let’s see the new versions.
As I said, new Google Maps versions landed on a regular basis in the last two weeks, starting with the updates to 10.70.2 and 10.71.0 beta published on May 26. Since then, Google has rolled out no less than seven new builds of Google Maps in the stable and beta channels, so right now, users can download app versions 10.71.5 for production devices and 10.72.1 beta for testing.
As for what’s new in these releases, Google has obviously remained tight-lipped, as the company rarely provides any changelogs for its Google Maps updates, which means users are all alone in their mission of figuring out what’s been improved.
But on the other hand, the I/O announcement provides us with a closer look at what Google is currently working on for the future of Google Maps.
For example, the company is trying to bring its new detailed maps to more regions out there, as Google wants the updated experience with crosswalks and everything to be live for more users. At the same time, Google Maps is also projected to receive support for generating safer routes to a user-defined destination by looking for hard-braking zones.
According to Google, whenever Google Maps finds a hard-braking zone on a specific route, the app also provides an alternative that should theoretically come with a reduced likelihood of accidents.
And last but not least, Google Maps is also getting new features to provide tailored maps to each user, essentially highlighting the POIs they might be interested in, such as coffee shops and restaurants based on the previous activity when running the app on both Android and Android Auto.
First and foremost, let’s see the new versions.
As I said, new Google Maps versions landed on a regular basis in the last two weeks, starting with the updates to 10.70.2 and 10.71.0 beta published on May 26. Since then, Google has rolled out no less than seven new builds of Google Maps in the stable and beta channels, so right now, users can download app versions 10.71.5 for production devices and 10.72.1 beta for testing.
As for what’s new in these releases, Google has obviously remained tight-lipped, as the company rarely provides any changelogs for its Google Maps updates, which means users are all alone in their mission of figuring out what’s been improved.
But on the other hand, the I/O announcement provides us with a closer look at what Google is currently working on for the future of Google Maps.
For example, the company is trying to bring its new detailed maps to more regions out there, as Google wants the updated experience with crosswalks and everything to be live for more users. At the same time, Google Maps is also projected to receive support for generating safer routes to a user-defined destination by looking for hard-braking zones.
According to Google, whenever Google Maps finds a hard-braking zone on a specific route, the app also provides an alternative that should theoretically come with a reduced likelihood of accidents.
And last but not least, Google Maps is also getting new features to provide tailored maps to each user, essentially highlighting the POIs they might be interested in, such as coffee shops and restaurants based on the previous activity when running the app on both Android and Android Auto.
Google News