4 good issues you are able to do with Google Maps (except for navigation)

If there’s one Google app that has essentially reworked the way in which we cope with life and experiences, it must be Google Maps. Since its launch in early 2005, the app has developed, taking totally different shapes and options, which has made it one of many indispensable tools in my day-to-day life. The app has been continually evolving, from providing improved Street View options to including a generative AI layer—and so has my utilization.

I’ve been utilizing Maps for extra than simply turn-by-turn navigation by continually chatting with Ask Maps to determine my weekend, save my parking spots, collaborate on journey planning, and journey again in time with Street View.

Ask Maps to curate your weekend plans

Find hyper-specific actions and venues with out digging by way of critiques

After a tiring workweek, weekends are supposed to be enjoyable. But planning one thing easy—or organizing a extra advanced outing with mates—can nonetheless require a stunning quantity of cognitive load. You need to type by way of the perfect locations, learn critiques, think about everybody’s meals preferences, and account for different constraints, so that you would possibly find yourself procrastinating on such issues altogether. Ask Maps, which was introduced earlier this yr, offers a wealthy quantity of Google Maps information to Gemini that solutions your questions and plans issues for you immediately.

For me, this is likely one of the most helpful purposes of generative AI thus far. I can merely ask for locations to hang around with my mates in LA and add specifics reminiscent of “cozy,” “enjoyable ambiance,” and “budget-friendly.” The AI mannequin will undergo lots of of critiques and Maps information to reach at my hyper-specific wants. And the perfect half was that Gemini additionally used my private intelligence information so as to add suggestions for eating places that serve vegan meals, which I did not point out within the preliminary immediate.

To use this, open Google Maps app, and you’ll immediately discover the Ask Maps possibility obtainable within the prime left nook of your display screen. Clicking it would take you thru the ChatGPT form of interface the place you may chat and get suggestions. You can throw some nuanced situations to the chatbot, reminiscent of, “Where can I sit and browse for an hour close by with out feeling pressured to maintain ordering meals?” and get suggestions grounded in folks’s experiences shared by way of critiques.

Build shareable, collaborative journey itineraries

Ditch messy group chats for a single reside map record

Now that Gemini helps you discover locations in line with your plan, you may want a strategy to hold monitor of them and hold your plans organized. Google Maps’s You tab permits you to create lists and immediately add locations to them. Head to the You tab, and you will find the +New List possibility underneath Your Saves. Tap the plus icon to create a devoted record, and you’ll invite collaborators to contribute to it.

I first create a listing of my plans, use Ask Maps and a few self-search to reach at locations to go to, add them to my lists, and let my mates react and vote on the locations. It helps us type this out collectively. For me, this eradicated the chaos that usually occurs in group chats, the place scrolling by way of chats to finalize plans can rapidly turn out to be a problem.

Walking by way of your favourite streets just about with Street View

Scout unfamiliar neighborhoods or watch your individual avenue evolve

Street View is my favourite characteristic on this record. It’s a type of “really feel good” options that has a twin objective: it helps me visually scout a brand new place earlier than I go to whereas additionally letting me return in time and see how acquainted locations regarded years in the past. For occasion, Street View imagery of my avenue was captured again in 2022, 4 years in the past, and it is fascinating to just about stroll down my avenue and see the way it has developed.

And, earlier than I am going to any metropolis or place, I exploit Street View to scout the world and familiarize myself with it. Sometimes, instructions alone aren’t sufficient. Open Google Maps, activate the Street View layer, and just about discover a avenue in any a part of the globe. It could be a favourite vacation spot you’ve got at all times needed to revisit or just an area spot properly.

Save and annotate your parking spot

Let Maps keep in mind your proper spot

Finding the place I parked my automobile in an enormous parking zone is one thing I’ve at all times been dangerous at—till I found this characteristic in Google Maps. When you are at a mall or a big parking space, open Google Maps and faucet the blue location button, which reveals your present parking spot. From there, you will discover the Save Parking possibility. Tap it and ensure that Maps is pointing to the correct location. You may add quick notes, reminiscent of a particular pillar quantity the place your automobile is parked, and set a countdown timer for metered avenue parking. If you’ve got set a parking timer, your telephone will warn you when the timer expires.

Move past primary turn-by-turn navigation

Google Maps has made my life far simpler than simply serving to me with turn-by-turn navigation. From letting Gemini instantly curate my Friday night plans and serving to me collaborate with mates to visually scouting locations with Street View and saving my parking location. This is simply how I exploit it. You can begin by exploring these options your self and discover methods to make Google Maps extra helpful and personalised to your individual wants.