Photo: reddit user Space_Potatoe
Google keeps working on refining the experience with Google Maps on all platforms, not just on its own, but a new version released today seems to bring something that’s exclusive to Android users for the time being.
More specifically, Google published Google Maps version 10.47.1 for Android (and Android Auto too) only a few hours ago, but as it typically happens when such updates are released, no changelog has been provided.
Interestingly enough, this is the very first stable build of Google Maps 10.47, so given the version bump, there’s a chance something important might be hiding in there.
And it looks like it does, as I noticed that Google Maps now displays new icons for popular landmarks around specific locations. As you can see in the screenshot in this article, Google Maps now makes certain points of interest, like museums, a lot easier to see on the map using a set of large icons.
Now, there are a few things that need to be mentioned about this feature.
A handful of Google Maps users actually received the landmark icons earlier this year, so most likely, Google was either running an experiment with a small set of people or the company was just gradually rolling out the new feature to devices across the world.
So today’s update to version 10.47.1 could do one of two things: it might either enable the feature for more users across the world (right now this only appears to be limited to those running Android) if a phased rollout is indeed used, or it might finally bring it to users if the whole thing was just a limited experiment.
No matter what’s the case here, the new feature is a welcome improvement for Google Maps, and it’s probably just a matter of time until it makes its way to iPhones too. There’s still no word on whether Google wants to bring it to Android Auto and CarPlay or not.
Interestingly enough, this is the very first stable build of Google Maps 10.47, so given the version bump, there’s a chance something important might be hiding in there.
And it looks like it does, as I noticed that Google Maps now displays new icons for popular landmarks around specific locations. As you can see in the screenshot in this article, Google Maps now makes certain points of interest, like museums, a lot easier to see on the map using a set of large icons.
Now, there are a few things that need to be mentioned about this feature.
A handful of Google Maps users actually received the landmark icons earlier this year, so most likely, Google was either running an experiment with a small set of people or the company was just gradually rolling out the new feature to devices across the world.
So today’s update to version 10.47.1 could do one of two things: it might either enable the feature for more users across the world (right now this only appears to be limited to those running Android) if a phased rollout is indeed used, or it might finally bring it to users if the whole thing was just a limited experiment.
No matter what’s the case here, the new feature is a welcome improvement for Google Maps, and it’s probably just a matter of time until it makes its way to iPhones too. There’s still no word on whether Google wants to bring it to Android Auto and CarPlay or not.
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