Google Maps has introduced a range of new features, enhancing navigation and Immersive View, and integrating AI capabilities with Gemini to help users select routes and destinations. Users will now see nearby parking options, save their parking locations, and receive guidance to exit using Street View or augmented reality. Enhanced navigation will display lanes and signs for better driving decisions, while the app will also support trip planning with points of interest along the way. Immersive View expands to 150 cities, and Gemini assists in suggesting activities and summarizing reviews for establishments.
Google Maps introduces a range of new features, enhancing navigation and the Immersive View experience. The integration of the Gemini AI aims to assist users in selecting routes and destinations.
Google has unveiled several updates for its Maps application. When driving close to your destination, the app will now showcase nearby parking options, making it easier to find parking spaces. Additionally, users will have the ability to save the location of their parked car, facilitating quick retrieval later. Once parked, Maps can provide guidance to the parking exit using Street View or augmented reality for pedestrian navigation.
Google Maps will also prominently display lanes, crosswalks, and road signs on the map, enabling drivers to better anticipate their route. Enhanced navigation will indicate, via a blue line in the road markings, the correct lane to be in, helping to avoid last-minute lane changes.
New Navigation Options for Comfortable Driving and More Relevant Trips
The update also introduces the capability to plan sightseeing routes. Users can start a journey by entering a starting point and a destination, then pressing “add stops”. The app will suggest major landmarks, attractions, scenic sites, and dining options along the route, allowing users to schedule stops. Furthermore, the app will now factor in weather-related disturbances on your route, highlighting flooded roads, unplowed paths, and areas of low visibility.
Features to discover locations along your route, as well as report weather disturbances and arrival guidance, will be rolled out globally during the first week of November on both Android and iOS. The enhanced navigation will be launched a bit later in November, initially covering over 30 major cities, with additional locations to be added later.
Google Maps is also expanding its Immersive View feature to new cities, bringing the total to 150. Among the new additions are Brussels, Kyoto, and Frankfurt. This feature allows users to explore significant places (such as stadiums, parks, monuments, streets, and soon university campuses) to familiarize themselves before visiting, reducing feelings of disorientation. The app will even display weather forecasts and traffic conditions for the specified date and time of visit. Immersive View will also incorporate parking information. All these enhancements will be available starting this week on Android and iOS.
Gemini Streamlines Your Experience in Google Maps
Google is not just improving navigation in Maps; it has more features up its sleeve. Unsurprisingly, the application is set to receive new AI-related functions. The Gemini assistant will be integrated into Google Maps, offering recommendations for places to visit and activities to undertake.
For instance, you can ask Gemini in Maps for suggestions on “things to do with friends in the evening”. It will provide recommendations for bars, restaurants, or venues featuring live music. Gemini will also summarize reviews for each establishment, sparing you from having to sift through numerous customer comments to form an opinion. Additionally, you can pose questions to Maps about a specific place, such as menu options, whether it has an outdoor seating area, or if it’s a quiet spot, and it will respond based on the available information.
As is often the case with emerging AI technologies, users in France will need to be a bit patient before these features are available. Initially, they will be rolled out in English and only in the United States, on both Android and iOS. We can expect to access these features in a few months. Google notes that “similar experiences [will be arriving] in the coming months in Google Search, including AI-generated review summaries and the capability to ask detailed questions about locations.”