You Can Now Customize Your Locations With Colorful Stickers On Google Maps

Google Maps for Android has a new update out today that lets you ascribe stickers to your home and work locations, as well as label other areas of interest like your local gym and favorite places to eat. The neat-looking doodles, of which there are 24 to choose from, range from castles and barns to igloos and treehouses. Once you pick one, it will show up on the map at whatever addresses you've saved in your app. You must sign in with a Google account to use the features, the company wrote in a blog post.

Google has a reason to want users to login with Google Maps and save addresses for home and work locations. The company can provide ever-smarter algorithmic suggestions and features so long as users are willing to let its apps learn and study your behavior. For instance, Google's Driving Mode will let you tap a single button to get ETAs and traffic conditions to preset locations like home and work. The more Google knows — and the more you let it learn — the better its products can get.


Source: Google
Via : The Verge

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Google Maps for Android update is out with a new traffic feature - download it right now

Google does a tremendous job updating its maps and navigation software for smartphones, frequently releasing new versions of Google Mapsthat bring over several interesting tricks meant to make traveling an enjoyable experience. The company quietly released a new Google Maps update for Android, bringing the app to version 9.15, which can be downloaded right away.

As Android Police points out, the update is “fairly minor,” but there is one new feature that stands out. Under the Notifications section of the app users will find a new “Traffic Information” checkbox that will let them toggle on and off alerts regarding nearby traffic events (see following image).

The Android tech site says Google Maps for Android v9.15 also brings over bug fixes and performance improvements, as expected, but that a major feature such as offline navigation is nowhere to be seen just yet.

Source :Bgr 

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Google Maps for iPhone was just updated – here are the 4 key changes

With hundreds of millions of users all over the world, Google Maps is easily one of the most widely used mobile apps on the planet. As the company did with Gmail, Google completely changed an industry by disrupting it with free mapping and voice-guided navigation. And we’re not talking “disrupt” as in the meaningless startup buzzword. We’re talking “disrupt” as in Google changed the game and toppled industry leaders in the process.

But as expected, Google isn’t satisfied with simply changing the game. Instead, the company continues to improve Google Maps while rivals chase at its heels. And on Tuesday, Google released another new update for the iPhone and iPad version of its popular Google Maps app.

Since so many people rely on Google Maps each and every day, updates to the app are a fairly big deal. And while some updates are more significant than others, Tuesday’s iPhone app update to Google Maps 4.10.1 has several nice additions including one that’s pretty great.

Here are today’s changes, listed from most significant to least significant:

• See where you’re going before you leave with a Street View thumbnail on the map (for address search or tap-and-hold on map)
• View the custom maps you created using Google My Maps
• Easily share your opinion about places you’ve been with an improved review-writing flow
• New Google Maps logo

While that last one isn’t exactly a game-changer, simplifying the steps needed to check out Street View at your destination is a hugely useful feature that Google Maps fans are really going to enjoy.

Download the latest version of Google Maps for iOS

Source : Bgr 

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The latest Google Maps update lets you customize your map like never before

If you’ve updated Google Maps on your Android device recently, you might have noticed a new feature that Google added to its mobile app. You can now edit the names of locations on the map, save them to your personal Google account and search for them the next time you’re out and about.

This is useful for a number of reasons. If there’s a restaurant you’re ordering from but know you’ll never remember its name, just rename it to “Incredible Restaurant.” That’s a search term I’d remember more frequently than “Taverna Kyclades.”

You can also drop a pin in a location without a set name on Google Maps and give it a custom name. If your friend John’s apartment doesn’t show up on Google Maps, drop a pin and name it “John’s Apartment.”

Here are the steps to give a place a private name,courtesy of Google:

1. Open the Google Maps app
   maps
   .
2. Search for an address. Or drop a pin by touching and holding a place on the map.
3. From the bottom, touch the place’s name or address.
4. From the top right, touch the menu
   three vertical dots
   > Edit name.

Pretty simple, right? Google Operating System also notes that Google has recently implemented a feature for its web and Android app called the “Timeline,” which shows you everywhere you’ve been in the past day, month or year (providing you’ve turned “Location History” on).

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