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Google Says Everybody Starts Using Google Maps Again

Google Maps is one of the most popular mobile apps, as millions use it for navigation and to explore new locations across the world.
Google Maps on iPhone 6 photos
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Google Maps on iOSGoogle Maps on iOSGoogle Maps on iOSGoogle Maps on iOSGoogle Maps on iOS
But in the last few months, Google Maps’ usage has obviously collapsed, as the world has been in lockdown and most people just stayed home due to the global health crisis.

Google admits that people hardly found a reason to launch Google Maps, which means that the drop in the number of users lately is something that makes total sense.

The good news is that things are slowly coming back to normal, and Google itself admits that users across the world are once again turning to Google Maps for their daily activities. The app’s usage has increased substantially in the last few weeks, the company confirms, and some people rely on the service not just for navigation, but to also figure out what’s open around their current location.

In an interview with The Verge, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai explains that Google Maps is slowly rebecoming the discovery app that so many previously used on a regular basis.

It did have a significant — obviously, as people aren’t driving around, you clearly saw an impact. Interesting to me, was maybe over the last two to three weeks, we definitely see users coming back to it looking for local information,” Pichai explained when asked about the impact the health crisis had on Google Maps.

So definitely we see activity back around people trying to find services, what’s around, what’s open. People are exploring and discovering local services again. So there’s this clear inflection, but not clear what that fully means. But that’s where it is.

Google, however, has been hard at work on improving Google Maps even during these challenging times. The company released several new versions of the app on both Android and iPhone, with the focus mostly on fixing bugs and polishing the experience overall even further.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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