This Free App Helps Google Maps Become the Most Advanced Navigation Tool Out There

Needless to say, this is actually one of the things that people love about Google Maps, as its up-to-date data makes going from point A to point B, either by car or by foot, a lot more convenient, faster, and even safer, thanks to its turn-by-turn navigation.

But just like most navigation apps out there, Google Maps has its own flaws, so it can occasionally fail to provide the best route to a specific destination.

Not to mention that in some cases, it may have a hard time finding the address you’re planning to go to, in which case you need to manually look for a point to navigate to and only then set up the route.

When it comes to the accuracy of the navigation component, a third-party app helps make Google Maps incredibly spot-on.

Enter what3words.

While many people don’t even know the app exists, what3words is a service that has been around for quite some time. And the way it works is not only what sets it apart from the likes of Google Maps and Waze but also the thing that eventually helps these apps get you precisely to the requested destination.

To better understand how what3words enhances the accuracy of Google Maps, it’s important to know precisely how it works.

what3words divides the entire world into 10-foot (3-meter) squares, with each square given a unique address that’s made of three random words. For example, the White House entry is called curve.empty.buzz, so the randomly-generated words can be used specifically to point to this 3-meter square.

The approach pushes the accuracy concept to a completely new level. Because each address points to a 3-meter square, the accuracy means you should be able to find a specific point indicated by the random words with an error of just 3 meters. In practice, this is something pretty incredible, as even navigating to the next 3-meter square can still help you find the address you are looking for.

So at the end of the day, what3words helps specifically pinpoint a location on the map with three randomly-generated words. But how does this help Google Maps?

By default, what3words isn’t a navigation app, as its purpose is only to accurately indicate a location on the map. However, it still includes a navigation module, so after finding the 3-word address of a square, what3words can launch Google Maps and configure a route specifically to the found address.

In addition to Google Maps, what3words can also work with Bing Maps, Waze, and Citymapper, so depending on the navigation app installed on your device, it can launch it and then automatically configure a route to the 3-word address.

On the web, what3words also uses Google Maps data to help users find the location they are looking for. Just like Google Maps, it supports multiple layers, including a satellite view powered by Google imagery.

It goes without saying that what3words can come in handy in a wide variety of scenarios, and this is the reason emergency services across the world are also adopting the service, not only to find a specific address more accurately but also to be able to head over to a location without street names and numbers or in remote areas.

Of course, several carmakers, including Mercedes, have also embraced what3words for their navigation software, so drivers can just provide the 3-word address on the head unit in their cars to start the navigation to the assigned 3-meter square.